Harry Potter - Return of the Hallows
by MexScribe
Summary: 30 years after the events of the Deathly Hallows the seventh Harry Potter story (Excluding the events of the Cursed Child). A new generation of Hogwarts students is arriving and embarking on a journey of magic and adventure. But when a decade's old prophecy comes to light the wizarding world is threatened by darkness once again. (Updated regularly)
1. Chapter 1

(The original source material of the tale of three brothers is from J.K Rowling.)

There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely winding road at twilight. In time the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through, and too dangerous to swim across.

However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous waters. They were halfway across it when they found their pathway blocked by a hooded figure.

And Death spoke to them.

Death was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.

So the oldest brother, Antioch, who was a combative man, asked for a wand that was more powerful than any in existence, a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death. So Death crossed to an Elder tree on the bank of the river, fashioned a wand from the branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother.

Then the second brother, Cadmus, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the river bank and bent down to give it to the second brother He told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead.

And then Death asked the third and youngest brother, Ignotus, what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest, and also the wisest of the brothers and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own cloak of invisibility.

Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so, talking with wonder at the adventure they had had, and admiring Death's gifts. In due course, the three brothers separated, each for his own destination.

Antioch traveled on for a week or more and, reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the elder wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed, Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor. The oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and how it made him invincible. That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden upon his bed. The thief took the wand and for good measure slit the oldest brother's throat.

And so Death took the first brother for his own.

Meanwhile, Cadmus journeyed to his own home where he lived alone. There, he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry before her untimely death, appeared at once before him. Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally, the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself, so as to truly join her.

And so Death took the second brother for his own.

Even though Death searched for Ignotus for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had obtained a great age, that the youngest brother finally took off the cloak of invisibility and gave it to his son, and there he greeted Death as an old friend and went with him gladly.

And equals, they departed this life.

As the three gifts from Death continued to pass down through the ages, so did great tragedy, almost as if the items themselves were cursed to bring their owner great suffering. Once again the three Deathly Hallows will surface again, and this time, the debt shall be paid.


	2. Chapter 2

Important Note: The story's events, characters, and explanations may go against the Harry Potter continuity. I have taken some creative liberties in order to better tell the story. This story takes place 30 years after the seventh Harry Potter book and creates an alternate future for Harry Potter and the wizarding world, keeping the same characters while at the same time introducing new ones. I hope you enjoy! (A few descriptions of Hogwarts castle were taken from the sorcerers stone.)

Deep within the bowels of the ministry of magic, James Sirius Potter walked through various rows of glowing shelves. James was a handsome man, he had his father's messy black hair, but his mother's brown eyes and freckles. The chamber was as high as a church and full of nothing but towering shelves covered in small, dusty, glass orbs. They glimmered dully in the light issuing from dozens of candle brackets set at intervals along the shelves. The flames from the candles were burning a bright blue and was casting a large blue glow throughout the chamber. This Chamber was located in the Ministry of Magic inside the department of mysteries. In fact, his father was the one that helped shed light on the department of mysteries in the first place. The chamber James was walking through was known as the hall of prophecy. Divination is a very rare and powerful form of magic, it is the ability to accurately predict the future. Whenever someone with this rare ability happens to turn up and report a vision of the future, it is recorded in the hall of prophecy. James was called here to find and investigate a very specific prophecy. James couldn't help but feel amazed, he was walking the very halls his father did back when he was fighting Voldemort himself. Eventually, he arrived at his destination. At the end of the row, he saw two men scanning the shelves. The men were two other Aurors, one was his cousin Hugo, the other was a high ranking Auror by the name of Kalbur.

"So did you guys find it?" asked James, his breath fogging.

"Oh, there you are cuz," said Hugo happily, "What took you so long? I've had to stand here with Mister strong and silent for almost an hour." Hugo was a ginger-haired man and was very tall.

"Your lack of professionalism disturbs me Hugo…" said Kalbur flatly. Kalbur was a large built man with neck length black hair and a trimmed black beard.

"So did you two find it?" asked James.

"Yes, just now actually," said Kalbur.

Hugo then said, "So let's grab this thing and let's get out of here, this place is so bloody cold."

Kalbur reached up into the shelves and gently grabbed one of the glowing orbs. He brought down the magical object and held it between all three of them so they could all see it clearly. They then stared into the blue milky orb and watched as the mist slowly began to transform inside the orb. They stood in silence, once they had all seen the prophecy the air of relaxation vanished and was replaced with a cold deadly tension.

"So it's as bad as we thought…" James said, his face tense and serious.

"No kidding, this is a bloody catastrophe," said Hugo.

"The question now is who do we go to with this information first?" asked Kalbur.

"We should tell my brother Albus first, he will be able to better prepare the children for the danger."

"No," said Hugo, "we gotta tell the Minister of Magic, that way we can start preparations immediately."

"Hugo's right, we need to tell the Minister first," said Kalbur.

James was quiet for a moment, his face contemplative, "You two are probably right, who knows what Albus might do if we tell him first. I just hope we can get things in motion before the new year gets too far along…"

Meanwhile ~

12-year-old Vlad Kardash, with his messy brown hair and dark blue eyes, walked briskly into Kings Cross train station. People were casually towing their luggage and constantly checking their watches. The station was abuzz with chatter and the constant sound of rolling luggage. Vlad was at the station with his mother, his older brother who had just received his aparating license had already apparated to the castle. This being Vlad's first year he would have to take the Hogwarts Express like the rest of the first years.

"So where's the train?" Vlad asked.

"Oh, we have to get to platform 9 ¾" Vlad's mother said.

Vlad looked up at the platform numbers and saw 9 and then 10, but no 9 ¾.

"So where is it?"

"We have to pass through the barrier," said Vlad's mother while pointing to the wall between the platforms. She motioned for Vlad to follow her then picked up her pace, and ran straight into the barrier dividing the platforms.

Vlad was a little surprised, but then again his brother did tell him that there was a special way to get to the Hogwarts Express. Vlad took a firm hold of his suitcase and ran straight into the barrier. His body tensed for the impact, but there was none. Instead, his body passed straight through and he found himself on another platform. Vlad's mother gave him a smile and motioned to the platform sign. Vlad looked up and saw the sign read "Platform nine and three-quarters"

"Let's hurry Vlad, the train is going to leave any minute," said Vlad's mother taking hold of his hand and leading him through a crowd of people.

Platform 9 ¾ was packed full of Vendors who were selling various charms and trinkets, as well as busy witches and wizards all saying their goodbyes to their children on the train. The roar of the crowded station was deafening, but somehow the whistle of the Hogwarts Express was able to cut through it all.

Vlad then set his eyes upon the Hogwarts Express for the first time. He always assumed the train would be a lot more magical, but the train seemed so regular. He also noticed the train was on normal tracks, again he thought that perhaps the train would pass through a portal or maybe even fly through the sky.

"You'd better get going!" said Vlad's mother as she shoved Vlad along.

Vlad gave his mother a hug and made his way onto the train. He waved goodbye to his mother as the train slowly began to speed forward. He watched from the window as his mother grew smaller and smaller until the platform itself became nothing but a distant blur. Vlad walked through the compartments but they all seemed full. As he looked through the glass of the sliding doors he could see several kids laughing and talking excitedly. Just when he thought that there would be no empty compartments he saw that at the very end of the train, there happened to be two open. Inside the compartment to his right, was a young blonde boy sitting across from a young black haired girl. In the compartment to his left sat two boys, they both had black hair, although one of them was much darker than the other.

In the end, Vlad decided to join the blonde boy and his friend.

Vlad slid open the door and the two children stopped talking and stared at him.

The boy had short combed blond hair and light blue eyes, While the girl had black hair with even cut bangs over her forehead, Vlad couldn't help but think about how pretty the girl was, especially with those bright green eyes.

"What do you want?" asked the boy.

"Um, well… there aren't any compartments open really…" said Vlad nervously, "I mean this is one of the only compartments still open."

"Well, we're a little busy here, so how about you go sit with those other two guys." said the blonde boy.

Then the little girl spoke up, "Felix, why don't we ask his opinion then?"

"What, why him?"

"Me and you are getting nowhere with just the two of us, we'll be arguing all day if it's just the two of us. We need a third opinion."

"Fine, I guess…" said Felix motioning for Vlad to enter the compartment. Vlad went inside and hauled his luggage onto the luggage rack before sitting next to Felix and closing the compartment door.

"So what is your name if you don't mind my asking?" asked Octavia.

"It's Vlad, Vlad Kardash."

"Nice to meet you, Vlad, my name is Octavia Malfoy." said Octavia with a dazzling smile, "And my gloomy friend over there is Felix Mikhalkov.

"How about we just get to the point Octavia?" asked Felix.

"Fine then, so Vlad what do you think about the house sorting?"

"What do you mean?" asked Vlad.

"Well, as you know each person gets sorted into one of four houses when you start Hogwarts."

"Yeah, I know that."

"Well, me and Felix here have been having a bit of an argument about how the sorting hat works."

Vlad had heard about the sorting hat from his brother. There was apparently a magical hat at Hogwarts that handled the sorting of the first years. His brother had told him that the hat could talk, Vlad wondered if it was true.

Octavia then went on, "It is a well-known fact that families that go to Hogwarts are always sorted into the same house. From parent to child, the house they are sorted in runs in the family."

Felix then interrupted, "And I'm saying that that is just a myth, people can be sorted despite their families heritage, it just seems that it runs in the family because people in the same family often share the same views and ideals. But there is no guarantee that you will be sorted into the same house as your family."

Octavia then turned to Vlad and smiled, her eyes compelled Vlad for an answer.

"I'm pretty sure there is no family-based bias when it comes to the sorting hat," said Vlad matter of factly.

"See even he knows that," said Felix smugly.

Vlad saw that Octavia was wearing a green bow in her hair, and Felix had on a green necktie.

"Are both your families in Slytherin?" asked Vlad.

"Why of course!" said Octavia proudly, "It's the best house you know."

Vlad had heard stories about Slytherin house from his brother. What his brother had told him was that the students in Slytherin were a bunch of jerks with a superiority complex. Not to mention that most of the dark wizards from the past were Slytherin students. Vlad just found it strange that these two were so sure that they were going to get sorted into Slytherin, that they sought to attend the sorting ceremony already wearing Slytherin green.

"What about you Vlad?" asked Octavia.

"What?"

"I mean, what house does your family belong to?"

"Well, most of my family have been Ravenclaws," said Vlad.

"Oh, so you're a Ravenclaw then?"

"I think it might be a bit too soon to call me a Ravenclaw…"

"Just you wait Vlad," said Octavia confidently, "the sorting hat is going to make you a Ravenclaw for sure, just like the rest of your family."

"There is a good chance, yes, but you can't just say that I'm going to be a Ravenclaw for sure. I could be one of the other three."

Felix then spoke, "You better pray you don't get Gryffindor or god forbid Hufflepuff."

'What's wrong with Gryffindor and Hufflepuff?" asked Vlad.

"Well," began Felix, "Gryffindor is just filled with a bunch of self-righteous hero wannabe's, not to mention they're all a bunch of goodie two shoes. And the Hufflepuffs are just a group of special snowflake types and pretentious assholes who think that they're special because they can sing, or play an instrument or whatever…"

"How do you know all of this?"

"My family has made it very clear who I should associate myself with if I want to get ahead at Hogwarts." said Felix with pride, "You Ravenclaws are alright though, nothing wrong with being friends with someone who's smart."

"That's right," said Octavia, "you should just steer clear of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Stick with us and you should be fine."

Vlad, a little annoyed said, "I think I'll decide for myself who I hang out with if that's alright with you…"

"Suit yourself," said Felix.

The rest of the train ride, the three kids got to know each other a little better. Octavia was from the noble house of Malfoy. Before the dark time, the house of Malfoy was a truly respected family. But when Voldemort rose to power the house of Malfoy chose to align itself with the dark side. Once Voldemort Vanished the house of Malfoy had said they were guilty of no wrongdoing and had escaped persecution due to their connections. For years the bided their time until Voldemort had risen again. After Harry Potter defeated Voldemort nearly 40 years ago, the Malfoy's were for the most part imprisoned. All except Draco Malfoy, who was pardoned after a character reference by Harry Potter himself. The years after that were filled with the Malfoy's using their wealth to try and make up for the dark deeds of the past. Octavia was apparently the granddaughter of Draco Malfoy, and thus Octavia explained that there was much expectation set upon her. As for Felix, he was much more reluctant to speak about his Family. Vlad didn't like to pry, so he respected Felix's reluctance.

"What about your family Vlad?" asked Octavia.

"My family isn't nearly as well respected." said Vlad, "I know my dad was an Auror during the time that Voldemort was around."

Octavia and Felix then immediately went wide-eyed.

"What am I not enough for you guys?"

Felix then said, "No, it's just that you said the name of "He who must not be named" so casually. It's kinda strange is all."

"Are you guys seriously still practicing that old superstition?"

"It's not something you can just get rid of…" said Octavia.

"Voldemort died like 30 years ago or something, I see no reason to keep being scared of saying his name."

"Can we just stop saying his name please!" said Octavia, who was getting annoyed.

But Vlad persisted, "What's the big deal?"

"Vlad, just stop," said Felix, "not everyone sees that name like you do… It's a lot more sinister for some."

"I just don't get it… my dad fought the death eaters and he still says his name fine."

"Well good for you," said Octavia, "but I would really appreciate it if you would stop saying his name please."

"Fine, I guess," said Vlad still not understanding their fear.

The train ride continued for some time. The three eventually became enthralled in conversation. Then the sweets trolley came around.

"Finally something to eat," said Felix hungrily looking at the selection of sweets on the trolley.

Vlad looked over at the trolley and could see a large assortment of sweets, chocolates, and pastries. As Vlad took in the amount of sugar on the trolley, he suddenly became hungry for a real meal. Just then Felix tossed a chocolate frog to Vlad.

"It's on me," said Felix.

"Oh, so you don't buy me anything?" said Octavia.

"You're loaded Octavia…" said Felix flatly.

"Well so are you!"

"I'm not (Have homes in multiple foreign countries) type rich!"

Octavia bitterly bit into some licorice and went into a full pout. Vlad unwrapped his chocolate frog and bit into it. The frog was milk chocolate, he preferred dark chocolate, but he didn't feel like being rude and refusing the gift. As Vlad chewed on the creamy chocolate he could see that there was a card inside the wrapper. He took the card out and looked at the packaging. It was purple lined with gold, with the words "Great Wizards of the ages!" written in large golden print.

"Let me know which one you get Vlad," Felix said.

"I've been looking for a Kingsley Shacklebolt card myself, but those are so rare." chimed in Octavia.

Vlad peeled off the packaging and found himself staring at a small portrait of Harry Potter. He was smiling gently and moving around slightly the way all magical pictures did.

"Wow!" exclaimed Felix, "You got the Harry Potter card!"

"Those are so rare!" said Octavia with equal excitement, "You could get 200 Galleons for that if you sold it to the right place!"

"I want it back!" said Felix angrily.

"What?" said Vlad confused.

"I bought it so I want it back!"

"Felix! It's his, the card has already marked him as his owner."

"Owner?"

"Do you not collect chocolate frog cards Vlad?" asked Octavia.

"I don't really eat candy much…"

"Well, all the new chocolate frog cards imprint on the first person who opens the packaging, you know, to prevent stealing the card or making counterfeit copies. If you take the card away from the person who first opened it, the person in the portrait will keep yelling "THIEF" until the card is returned."

"Ugh, you're so lucky…" said Felix Jealousy.

"I guess, I mean 200 Gallons seems pretty good for a simple card," said Vlad while putting the card into his pocket.

Even more, time passed and the sun began to dip behind the mountains as they passed a vast countryside. It was then that Vlad exactly began to wonder where exactly Hogwarts was. It had to be somewhere hidden so that the muggles wouldn't be able to find it, but Vlad had no clue as to how they could keep such a large castle hidden. Then Vlad could see the train round a bend and descend into a densely forested area. As they chugged along eventually the train entered a large tunnel carved into the base of a mountain.

Octavia excitedly looking out the window said, "I've never been through a distortion field before."

"Wait, so that tunnel was the entrance to a distortion field?" asked Vlad.

"Yeah, I guess they have a large enough field as to hide the castle grounds from the muggles.

Magical barriers were common in the wizarding world. When a non-magical being came close to one, they suddenly became interested in something else. Or they would suddenly become very fearful of moving forward and run away, or they would suddenly remember something else they had to do and leave. The effect is different from person to person, but the field makes it so that it becomes impossible for anyone without magic to enter. It also allows for the objects within the field to be hidden from the outside view as well,. Not to mention it also blocks the use of electronics, which is why all electronics become useless while on the grounds at Hogwarts.

When they exited the mountain tunnel, Vlad could immediately sense the change. The forest suddenly became more dense and fogged. It became almost impossible to see past the tree line into the forest itself. Vlad looked at the horizon and could see that it was warped slightly so that it looked as if al large ring was surrounding the landscape. Eventually a voice came over the loud speaker telling the students to line up by year and get ready to exit the train. First years were instructed to wait at the back compartment for further instruction. As Vlad opened the door to their compartment, he could see dozens of other kids milling through the narrow hallway towards the back. As he watched the kids pass he could see the other black haired boy he saw earlier doing the same. They both waited awkwardly for the stream to thin before joining the convoy of eager children. Vlad noticed that the boy had on a muggle watch and was carrying a backpack with him, rather than a suitcase. Eventually the boy and his friend joined the stream and so did Vlad soon after. After a few moments all the kids had converged at the rear of the train. The children soon became restless and a low rumble of chatter began to fill the compartment.

Eventually, a large shadowy figure appeared at the exit to the train compartment. The chatter immediately stopped and the children stood in awe at what opened the doors.

A huge man was standing at the boarding doors of the compartment. He had a graying bushy black hair and was carrying a large lantern in his right hand. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. All the children stared wide eyed at the man's proportions, but none were afraid due to the gentle smile the man had on his face. The man's face went from a gentle smile, to a beaming grin as he said, "Y'all firs years come with me!" His voice was just as big as his physique and when he strolled into the dark forest the children followed him.

The children followed the large man for a few minutes before reaching a break in the tree line. Suddenly Vlad was staring at the place he would spend the rest of the year in. Across the lake was a large island that was the base of a massive castle. The children began a chorus of ooh's and awes as the kids drunk in the majesty of the magical institution. Eventually the large man came to the shore of the lake and pulled out a wand from his pocket. He dipped the wand into the water and suddenly dozens of small boats began to rise out of the water. Each boat could fit at least four kids, and each boat had a lantern attached to it.

"Alright," said the large man, "ye first years climb aboard, everyone picks a boat and enjoy the ride."

The students in a group of four began entering the boats. The vessels then by themselves began to move forward towards the castle and across the dark glossy water. Vlad and his new friends eventually found themselves a boat, but it would not move.

"Why isn't it going?" asked Felix.

Vlad looked to his right and could see the two boys from before again, except now they were accompanied by a black girl with curly hair and a girl with neck length red hair. Vlad watched as the girl with the red hair sat down, and their boat began to move forward.

"Maybe ours is broken?" suggested Octavia.

"We need a fourth person." said Vlad.

Felix then looked around and then spotted a nearby girl who looked apprehensive about choosing a boat.

"You! Girl with the black hair and the silver necklace! Come in our boat!" yelled Felix.

The girl looked mortified at being yelled at by Felix, it seemed she was so startled that she didn't even register the request.

"M… me?" said the girl pointing to herself.

"Yeah you!" yelled Felix, "Come on in!"

The girl looked around as if asking for permission and then cautiously entered their boat.

"Um… thank you." said the girl.

"Hi, I'm Octavia, the guy who yelled at you is Felix, and the guy with the brown hair is Vlad." said Octavia cheerfully, "What's your name?"

"Amanda, my name is Amanda Rembright."

Just then the boat shook and the girl fell over onto Vlad's lap. Amanda looked absolutely mortified at having fallen on Vlad and immediately scrambled off of him."

"I'm so sorry!" blurted out Amanda, her face crimson.

"It's alright…" said Vlad.

Their boat then began its journey towards the castle. Amanda had sleek black hair, not as straight as Octavia's and she didn't have straight cut bags like her either. The girl had white milky skin and a soft smooth complexion. Vlad hadn't realized earlier with the darkness, but in the light of the lantern, Vlad could see that the girl was quite pretty. Vlad thought that Octavia was beautiful in a sort of elegant way, but Amanda was cute in a girl next door type of sense.

"So Amanda, can I get your opinion on something?" asked Octavia.

"Ok."

"What house do you think you're gonna get sorted into?"

"Give it a rest Octavia…" said Felix rolling his eyes.

"Well, my parents were both Ravenclaws when they came here," said Amanda, "so I have to assume I'm going to be a Ravenclaw.

"Oh, well then you're going to be in the same house as Vlad over here!" said Octavia motioning to Vlad.

"Or not…" added Vlad.

"Just because my family are Ravenclaws, doesn't mean I'm going to be one…" said Amanda.

"Ha! Even she knows!" said Felix with a smug smile.

But before Octavia could rebuttal, there was a large splash and a scream to the right of them. It was the boat that the boys who were across from him on the train were on. The darker skinned boy had fallen into the lake and was treading water furiously.

"Someone Help him!" someone had screamed.

Then suddenly the boy was lifted out of the water by a massive tentacle. Several girls screamed, including Amanda, as the tentacle wrapped itself around the boy. The boy writhed and screamed as he was gently lifted out of the water and back onto his boat. After the boy was out of the water, the tentacle descended back into the black depths. Vlad's brother had told him that a giant squid lived in the lake at Hogwarts, but he didn't expect to see it his first day.

"Don't worry, someone falls in every year!" bellowed the giant man from a boat nearby.

Eventually, all the boats began to reach the rocky cliffs that lead to the castle grounds. The little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hung over the rocks which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto the rocks. Vlad could see the boy who fell into the water was shivering. The large man came over and draped his massive coat over the young boy. The boy looked grateful, but he also looked ridiculous wrapped up in a coat three times his size. Eventually, the children followed the large man and his lantern up and out of the harbor and onto a large lawn at the front of the castle. Up close the castle was even more massive than he first thought. Huge towers and archways were accentuated by high standing turrets. Each window casted a warm glow into the dark night that made the castle strangely inviting.

"Welcome fir's years, to Hogwarts castle! My name is Hagrid and I'm honored to bring ya here!" bellowed Hagrid heartily.

Hagrid then guided the students up to a massive front door which lead to the castle close. Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. The door swung open at once. A tall, gray-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had an old, stern face and Vlad's first thought was that this was not someone to piss off.

"Introducing Professor McGonagall, Hogwarts longest employed teacher." boomed Hagrid motioning towards the professor.

"Thank you Hagrid," said Professor McGonagall, "I will take them from here."

She pulled the door open wide revealing the castle close. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit a whole house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches and the ceiling was too high to properly see. A magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. They followed Professor McGonagall across the stone floor. Vlad could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small empty chamber off to the right of the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Said McGonagall addressing them all, "the start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the great hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has it's own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year the house with the most points will win the house cup. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all prepare yourselves as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on the large cloak wrapped around the boy that fell in the lake.

"I suggest you take that coat off unless you wish to drag it around the rest of the hall." she said.

With some reluctance, the boy removed the coat and placed it on a nearby armchair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly," she said finally before stepping out into the banquet hall.

Once she was gone, the room suddenly filled with a thick nervous tension. Then something extraordinary happened. Out of nowhere, twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall, causing everyone to gasp and scream. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing.

"New first years!"

"Have a wonderful stay!"

"Turn back now!"

"Don't say that or you'll scare them!"

"I hope they're smarter than the rest of these poor excuses for students."

It seemed each ghost had something different to say, they were all very different, but they all moved together almost like a school of fish.

Just then Professor McGonagall popped back in. "Move along now! The sorting ceremony is about to begin!"

Then all the ghosts glided through the wall and into the main hall.

"Alright, children form a line and follow me." said McGonagall as she opened the door to the hall.

Vlad felt a weird mixture of excitement and nervousness as he lined up with Felix and Octavia in front of him. He wondered where amanda had gone, but then spotted her further up the line. In unison the first years walked out of the chamber and back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the great hall. Vlad had never imagined such a strange and splendid place. The hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles which were floating in mid air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up there, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. When Vlad looked up he could see a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. It was as if there were no ceiling at all, and that the roof simply opened up into the night sky. Vlad saw Hagrid make his way up to the table where the rest of the teachers were sitting. The teachers themselves looked very imposing. There was the massive figure of Hagrid, then a black haired witch with very long sleek hair, then there was an asian woman with glasses and a tall bald man with a beard, among several other impressive looking wizards and witches. But the one with the most presence was sitting at the center of the table. The man in the middle rose up and proceeded to tap loudly on his glass, and the whole hall went silent almost immediately. The man was very tall and had a slender build. He had slicked back black hair and large round spectacles. His face was chiseled and hard, and his eyes were a deep green, but at the same time the smile the man wore made him seem kind as well. He wore elegant silver and white wizard robes that made him seemed to increase the man's presence even more.

"Hello Hogwarts students," said the man, "I would like to formally as the headmaster of Hogwarts, and on behalf of all the teachers, I… Albus Severus Potter, wish to welcome you back to Hogwarts. And to our first years, I bid you welcome and I hope you have an excellent and most of all, fun experience here at Hogwarts.

Then the room erupted into applause, then Professor Potter raised a hand, and the room fell silent once again.

"Now, we move on to our time-honored tradition of the house sorting." continued Potter, "The four noble houses of Hogwarts, created from the four original headmasters who created this magical institution. Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin. Who created the four houses of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. You will be sorted into one of these houses by the sorting hat. You will come up and place the hat upon your head and when it calls out which house you're in, you will be in that house for life. Once you are sorted there is no going back, because the sorting hat never makes a mistake. Whichever house you are sorted into, please do your best to make your house proud. Now without further lecture… LET THE SORTING BEGIN!"

The hall became filled with cheering as the four tables celebrated the sorting ceremony. Hagrid came to the center of the room, holding a dirty and ragged hat in one hand, and a small stool in the other. He placed the hat upon the stool at the front of the hall and walked back to the teacher's table.

"Once you are sorted, please join your house table and feel free to cheer for your fellow students." said Potter.

Then suddenly the hat began to hum a loud toon.

Then from a large tear in the hat, a booming voice began to sing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve and chivalry,

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin,

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means,

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!

After the song, the first years began to be sorted. There were many Gryffindors as well as Slytherin, there were a decent amount of Ravenclaws and a few Hufflepuffs here and there. Eventually Vlad saw the boy from the train about to get sorted. The black-haired boy sat down nervously on the stool, and as soon as the hat hit his head the hat yelled.

"JAIME BAUTISTA, GRYFFINDOR!"

"A large amount of cheering came from the Gryffindor table as Jaime ran towards them and sat down with his house. Eventually, the boy who fell into the lake came up and he too was sorted almost immediately.

"RAMI JABER, GRYFFINDOR!"

After a few more students it was eventually Amanda's turn to be sorted.

"AMANDA REMBRIGHT, RAVENCLAW!"

Amanda quickly put the hat down and ran towards the Ravenclaw table. Then after a couple more first years, Felix eventually was up for sorting.

"FELIX MIKHALKOV, SLYTHERIN!" bellowed the sorting hat.

There was thunderous applause as Felix walked proudly towers the Slytherin table. Octavia turned and gave Vlad a wink before heading up to the sorting hat.

"OCTAVIA MALFOY, SLYTHERIN!"

Octavia jumped from her seat and ran towards the Slytherin table. Then it was Vlad's turn. He walked up to the stool where the hat lay. The slit in the hat morphed into a ragged smile as if to welcome Vlad. Vlad lifted up the hat and sat down on the stool. When he placed the hat upon his head, he was surprised that for a few moments nothing happened.

Then a voice rang out in his head, "Hmm, you're a tricky one, Vlad Kardash. You have a remarkable intelligence, yet you can be lazy. You are talented, yet you ignore your potential. You are brave, yet you are not in any hurry to risk your life. You are cunning, hmmm, quite cunning, I can sense a savage intelligence as well as a resourcefulness in you. I see the gear and mind of a champion in you Vlad Kardsash. Destined for big things, yes I see it now…

"VLAD KARDASH, SLYTHERIN!"


	3. Chapter 3

Slytherin? Vlad thought.

Vlad stood up and placed the hat down back on the stool and walked over to the slytherin table where they all stood and applauded him. There were some random pats on his back and the occasional shaking of hand here and there as he made his way over to where the other first years were sitting. It seemed the table was divided by year, with the seventh years at the head, and the first years in the back.

Vlad saw Felix and Octavia sitting together and as he walked over to them he was intercepted by an older boy and girl. The girl had platinum blonde hair that went down to her waist, and the boy had the chiseled features of a man in his twenties. Vlad at first though some models had suddenly decided to talk to him, but when he saw the silver and green serpent badge on their chests he knew that they must be the slytherin Prefects.

"Hello, Vlad!" said the girl with an exaggerated smile, "I'm Courtney and this is Ryan, we are the Slytherin Prefects. If you have any questions just look for us and we'll help you out."

Vlad gave a curt nod and moved past the Prefects and over to his friends. When he sat down Octavia and Felix greeted Vlad with warm smiles.

"Forget being a Ravenclaw," said Felix, "You're in Slytherin the best house there is!"

"I'm so glad we're in the same house Vlad, I was actually pretty scared you were gonna get hufflepuff or something…" said Octavia.

At least a half hour passed before the sorting had completed. Then Professor Potter had walked back to the center podium.

Professor Potter clinked his goblet and suddenly the room fell silent.

"As the day draws to a close we all go to our beds with full stomachs and heads filled with infinite possibility. This year is looking to be one of great learning, growth, and excitement. Your house representative will escort you to your rooms. I hope you all have a good night's rest, and I will see you in the morning." and with that Professor Potter walked down from the podium to a chorus of applause from the other students.

The great hall was then abuzz with chatter from the students and the instructors trying to shout instructions over them. Vlad thought it was funny how none of the other teachers could get the students to quiet down like the headmaster could. Then a woman with long sleek black hair that came down to her knees walked up and put her hands firmly on her hips and addressed the Slytherins.

"Greetings students!" said the long haired woman, "To most of you I require no introduction, but to you first years allow me to introduce myself. I am professor Brightwood and I have the pleasure of being your house representative!" The woman paused to let her statement sink in and seemed to be disappointed with the lack of recognition. "Anyways…" said Brightwood, "everyone follow me to the common room." Brightwood then strolled away but had to stop a few feet away when she realized no one was following her.

"Well c'mon then!" Brightwood barked.

The slytherins stood up from their table and together in a sort of unorganized mob, followed Professor Brightwood out of the Great Hall and into the outside castle passageway.

From there they ascended a flight of stairs into an even larger Hallway that had many adjacent hallways and staircases. Vlad thought to himself how easily someone could get lost in here. He wondered how anyone knew how to get around given the sheer scale of the castle. They took a sharp right and followed the portly professor down several hallways and flights of stairs until they were at the edge of one of the longest flights of stairs Vlad had seen yet.

"Alright students!" began Brightwood at the foot of the stairs, "All first years stay here with me, the rest of you go on ahead and get to bed, You all have a big day ahead of you, time to get some rest."

The mob was then cut down to only a few students as the rest of the upperclassmen descended down the long flight of stairs.

Brightwood waited for the upperclassmen to leave before she turned to the first years, "Alright children, what you see before you is the staircase to the Slytherin common room, where you will be staying for the remainder of your time here at hogwarts. As many of you know the Slytherin common room is located in the dungeon of the castle, but fret not! The Slytherin common room is by far the most luxurious common room of all the houses here at Hogwarts."

Brightwood paused when he realized that none of the students looked thrilled at all about living in a dungeon for the next few years. "You'll all see for yourselves in a moment anyways, but there are more important matters to discuss. There are several rules you must abide by when staying here in the Slytherin common room. The first is that Boys and Girls are to sleep separately, no exceptions. Bedtime is at ten o'clock, except for the weekends, in which case bedtime is 12:00 sharp. Lastly there is to be no leaving the common room unless under supervision after 9:00 and on weekends that is extended to 10:00. Are there any questions?"

Almost immediately a girl with dark red hair raised her hand.

"Ah… yes, what's your question?" asked Brightwood.

The red haired girl then stepped forward, her hands firmly on her hips, "Yes, what about our class schedules, or what about the general rules of the school? We don't even have our official school robes yet!"

"Of course!" said Brightwood, looking almost pleased someone asked, "your course schedules and the school syllabus are located in your bedrooms, simply find the bed marked with your name and all you will need for your first day will be provided."

The red haired girl put her hand down slowly but still looked annoyed for some reason.

"As it is getting late, I will allow for you to get comfortable and settled, if you need anything simply ask Sir Wilhelm or the bloody baron for assistance and I will be over in a flash!"

Just before leaving Brightwood abruptly stopped and turned on her heel, "OH! I almost forgot, very important this… The password to get into the Common room for this year is Quicksilver, remember to never share this with anyone from any of the other houses, Sir WIlhelm will be able to tell if you have, and swift disciplinary action will be taken. I will see you all tomorrow in the great hall bright and early! Goodnight." And with that Brightwood strode down the hall and out of sight.

The first years all stood there not sure of what to do. Vlad realizing they were just wasting time, was the first to descend the stairs towards the dungeon. After Vlad had begun his descent the rest of the first years followed suit. Vlad had been going down the stairs for what seemed like an eternity before he finally reached a door at the bottom of the stairway. He stood at the front of the door when he realized just how many kids were watching his every move.

"Go on, open it!" yelled one of the kids, followed by similar responses by the rest.

Vlad cautiously pushed open the elegant wooden door before entering a small chamber. The first years all milled inside before the door behind them shut. The room was fairly small and made of stone and marble, with Slytherin banners hanging from each side. The light from the torches gave ample lighting, but the overwhelming feeling of just how deep underground they were was starting to take a toll on the more claustrophobic students. Vlad was puzzled because the room had nowhere to go, there was the door behind them, and then a single painting of a knight in black armor riding a white horse. The students then became restless.

"Where do we go?"

"Maybe we should go back?"

"Do we go grab Brightwood?"

"I'm scared…"

Just then a loud booming voice echoed through the small chamber, totally drowning out the low rumble of the student's chatter.

"SILENCE CHILDREN!"

Vlad and everyone else frantically looked around for the source of the voice but there was nobody there who could have created that loud of a response.

It was then that Vlad realized that the painting had changed, the kight was now off his horse and looking directly towards them. As Vlad leaned in closer, he was caught off guard by yet another shout.

"I SIR WILHELM DEMAND THE PASSWORD IF YOU PLEASE!"

Vlad then realized that it was the Knight in the painting who was speaking.

"Did Miss Brightwood forget to tell you kids the password again?" said the Knight of the painting, "That's what she did last year, I had screaming angry children standing in this room all night, it was awful!"

"Uh… quicksilver?" said Vlad.

The painting then swung open and dozens of other students began to cheer loudly, shouting welcoming words and raising flagons of butterbeer and Mysticmaid. Vlad suddenly found himself pulled into the common room by dozens of hands. Then everything happened very quickly. Vlad was given dozens of cady's and offered various drinks of all colors. Even though they had just had dinner, various snacks were being passed around and everyone was making a lot of noise, Vlad wondered if there were any rules regarding how loud you could be while in the dorm. After a few minutes Vlad was able to separate himself from the others and was finally take in the common room itself. The Slytherin common room was furnished as though it had just come out of the victorian era. Elegant statues and furniture made of rich high quality woods were abundant in the living area. There was a large fireplace where dozens of students sat and stood around laughing and socializing. It was then that Vlad noticed that there were tall glass windows on the far side of the common room that gave way to a view of what looked like an aquarium. When Vlad got closer he then realized that it wasn't an aquarium at all, but a view into the Hogwarts Lake. Apparently the Slytherin common room was so deep underground that it was also partially underwater. Vlad didn't mind this though as it gave the common room a wonderful view. Dozens of fish and plant life danced before him, he supposed he could sit there and watch it for hours, but there were more pressing matters at hand, like finding Felix and Octavia. After gliding through large groups of chattering teens, Vlad eventually found Octavia, although she seemed to be flanked by girls touching and marveling at her hair, and a few guys trying, but failing to get her attention. Rather than try and penetrate the human bubble Octavia had around her, Vlad decided to look for Felix.

After some doing, Vlad eventually caught a glimpse of Felix heading up a flight of spiral stairs that lead to the bedrooms. Vlad once again traversed the sea of chattering students and eventually made his way to the stairs. Vlad could see to his left was an identical spiral staircase, but this one presumably lead to the girls rooms, Vlad then made his way up the staircase and found himself in a large hallway. The hallway was lined with dozens of doors that lead to various bedrooms, but which one was his? He didn't get too distressed over it because soon a ghost glided in from the ceiling and stopped in front of Vlad.

"I am the bloody Baron, your house Ghost," said the aparicion. The bloody Baron was dressed in victorian era clothing and had long curly hair. It was impossible to tell what color it was before he died because everything about him was entirely white. What really stood out about the ghost was the large silvery blood stain that was all along the front of his shirt.

"Can I be of some assistance," said the baron in a tone of utter disinterest.

"I'm looking for my room," said Vlad a little off-put by the fact that he was speaking to someone who was dead.

"And your name?" said the Baron.

"Vlad Kardash"

"Ah, room 104, you can't miss it." and with that, the Bloody Baron glided up and into the ceiling again.

Vlad was once again left alone. He wandered around the halls looking for room 104, but it was almost impossible. None of the room numbers where in any sort of discernible order, some of them even had letters in them. It would go room 102 then room 67 then room b34, and so on. Vlad was about to give up when he finally found it, apparently it had been sitting in front of him the whole time, he just hadn't noticed it. Though in all honestly Vlad could have sworn he had looked there before and seen a room with a number and then a triangle. Not questioning it, Vlad went up to the door and opened it only to find Felix on the other side. He was sitting on the bed looking at various papers.

"Yo, were roommates, isn't that great?" said Felix with an excited expression."

Vlad looked to his right to see a large four poster bed with his name inscribed on a plaque at the headboard.

"Looks, that way. At Least I don't have to worry about getting to know my roommate." said Vlad sitting down on his bed.

He opened a nearby drawer and found his shirts tucked inside neatly.

"All my stuff is here…" said Vlad a little surprised.

"Oh yeah, the house elves did that," said Felix putting down his papers, "They've taken all our stuff and put them away."

"Oh yeah, I've heard about the house elves here, supposedly there are hundreds of them who are employed by Hogwarts." said Vlad.

"I think Enslaved is a better term than employed," said Felix leaning back on his bed, "I have a house elf back home and she's basically used like a slave."

"That's a little harsh don't you think, calling your house elf a slave?"

"Why do you care, they're house elves, they love being ordered around for free."

"I just think that servant would be a better term."

"Call them what you want man, doesn't change what they are," said Felix picking up his papers again.

They were both silent for a little while before Vlad spoke again, "What's up with the hallway outside, how's anyone supposed to find there room in that mess?"

"It's an enchanted hallway," said Felix, "The harder you look for your room, the harder it will be to find."

"Why'd they make it so complicated," asked Vlad.

"That's just it, it's supposed to make it easier, just walk in like you know exactly where you're going and boom, you'll find your room real quick."

Vlad then could hear more students begin to pass by their room, he supposed it was getting late. Vlad reached over to the time candle and wet his fingers before pinching the flame out. The smoke from the smothered flame then arranged itself in the air to form the time, it was about 9:45. Vlad laid back on his bed, fighting off a yawn before grabbing his own stack of papers. The papers included a comprehensive list of the entities found in hogwarts, as well as rules and regulations. Another paper had his class schedule and course syllabus attached. His schedule read:

History of Magic

Potions

Defense against the Dark arts

Introductory Flying

Charms

Care Of Magical Creatures

Transfiguration

Vlad looked over his list and found nothing annoying or bothersome about his schedule, he actually became quite excited for his first official day of classes. Starting with history would be rough, but he found out he would be sharing that class with Felix.

"Looks like we only have two classes together," said Felix sadly, "History of Magic and Charms…"

"I wonder what classes Octavia has?" asked Vlad.

"Who knows, not like it matters, five seconds inside this common room and suddenly she's the most popular first year in the history of Hogwarts… doubt it'll be any different in class" said Felix bitterly.

"You're exaggerating…"

"But not by much…" said Felix rolling over.

"How long have you guys known each other?" Asked Vlad.

"Since we were kids, our families are… close."

"Then I'm sure she'll make time for you"

"Please…" said Felix grumpily, "Doesn't matter what she does anyways, not like I care."

"Sure looks like you do," said Vlad, "And to be honest it's kinda petty."

"Whatever, I'm going to sleep.," said Felix reaching for his Pj's and heading out of the room.

Vlad too grabbed his Pajamas, which had been provided by the school. They consisted of a green T shirt, a green Tank top, Black sweatpants with a silver streak down the side, and shorts with a similar pattern of black and silver. The communal bathroom was immaculate, gleaming white walls and marble floors made the place feel very sanitary. Considering it was a boys bathroom, there was definitely magic at work keeping the place looking and smelling so nice. After putting on his Pj's and brushing his teeth he made his way back to his room, not thinking at all about where his room might be, he casually walked up to the first door he saw, and found that it belonged to his room. When he entered the lights were already off and Felix was sound Asleep, he too got in bed, drew the curtains of his four poster bed, and fell asleep quite easily.

When he woke up the next morning he was in a cold sweat, he checked the time candle and found it was barely 7 AM. He had been awoken by a dream, but as he tried to chase the details, he found they vanished like smoke in his mind. Only a few things stuck out in his memory. A cold grey place, where the sun's rays couldn't reach. He eventually gave up trying to remember his dream and got up and stretched. He saw Felix was still sleeping and he decided not to wake him.

He eventually made his way to the living area and found only a few others happened to be up as well. To his surprise Octavia just so happened to be descending the girl's stairwell at the same time as Vlad was.

"Good morning Vlad!" said Octavia.

"Morning," said Vlad with less enthusiasm than he intended.

"Rough night?" asked Octavia.

"Sort of…" said Vlad vaguely.

"Was it Felix who kept you up?"

"No it wasn't Felix," answered Vlad through a yawn, "I had a weird dream."

"Oh yeah? Wanna go on a walk with me and tell me about it?"

"Sure…" said Vlad with a little reluctance, it was too early to be going on a walk, but he didn't want to pass up the chance of being alone with Octavia.

Vlad was still in his Pj's but Octavia was fully dressed in a black skirt, green stockings and a sweater vest with a green and silver necktie tucked in. All accentuated by a large green bow holding her hair in a ponytail.

"Do you usually get up this early?" asked Vlad as they stepped through the portrait hole, ignoring the warnings from Sir Wilhelm about being back before Breakfast.

"Yeah, I've always been an early riser," said Octavia, "Oh, by the way, what are your classes?"

Vlad explained his schedule and found out that he had three classes with Octavia, History of Magic, Potions, and Charms.

"That's great! We can be partners in potions! I messaged Felix last night on my Parchment messenger, but he didn't respond…"

"You have a Parchment Messenger?" asked Vlad.

A parchment messenger was a tool of communications between wizards, all you had to do was sign someone's parchment messenger and you could write to them freely.

"Yeah, I don't have you on my PM though, we should fix that," said Octavia reaching into her bag and taking out a single sheet of parchment. Octavia then handed Vlad a quill and opened the paper for Vlad to sign.

Vlad wrote his signature on the paper and watched as the inky letters seemed to be sucked up and absorbed by the paper.

"There we go, now we can talk." said Octavia pleasantly.

Vlad and Octavia then spent about half an hour walking around the empty halls of hogwarts passing the occasional ghost or two. Vlad recounted his dream, or what he could remember at least, and Octavia told him about a dream she had once about being stranded on an island with only a single apple tree.

"So, do you know why Felix was ignoring my messages last night? " asked Octavia

"I think he was upset that you were so popular with our classmates…"

"Oh he's just jealous," said Octavia dismissively, "My surname tends to have that effect on others, the same goes for anyone involved with Harry Potter's struggle against evil and what not."

Eventually, they made their way back to the portrait hole, said the password and reunited with their fellow Slytherins.

Octavia was then whisked away by a mob of other girls and Vlad was then flanked by Felix.

"What were you doing with Octavia!" said Felix.

"She asked If I wanted to go on a walk with her…"

"What did you guys talk about?" asked Felix.

"Nothing important… she asked for my signature on her PM, and wondered why you weren't responding last night," said Vlad, wondering why Felix was upset.

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her that you were upset about how much attention she was getting…"

"Why'd you say that!" said Felix in a harsh whisper.

"Because it's the truth?" replied Vlad.

"Oh whatever, let's go to Breakfast." said Felix.

The two then followed the rest of the Slytherins to the great hall for breakfast. Breakfast was fairly uneventful. Felix and Vlad sat next to each other, whilst Octavia tried to sit next to them, but was whisked away by a flock of older girls and she wound up sitting at the front of the table with some fifth years. Felix again seemed in a dour mood because of this, but was interrupted by dozens of plates and goblets magically appearing on the table. The spread was magnificent, cooked sausages and bacon lined the table, along with fried eggs, buttered toast and flagons of orange juice, there was pretty much something for everyone, and everything tasted amazing. The clinking of silverware and porcelain along with the chatter of the students was brought to an abrupt halt by Professor potter's morning announcements. He wished everyone a good first day and dismissed the students.

And so Vlad's first day at Hogwarts was about to officially begin.


	4. Chapter 4

Vlad briskly and excitedly exited the great hall and ascended the marble staircase towards the multiple hallways that lead to the classrooms. After some doing and a few wrong turns, Felix and Vlad managed to find their potions classroom. As they rounded the corner towards the entrance, Vlad could hear a girl saying "It's ok I'll get it!" followed by a blur of black hair and robes as a small figure ran straight into Vlad. Vlad being much larger than whatever he had bumped into was still standing, the same could not be said however for what Vlad now realized was a small first-year girl. Vlad quickly went to help out the girl, apologizing profusely and helping pick up the contents of the girl's school bag off the ground. Vlad picked up a few loose pieces of parchment and handed them to the girl. Judging by the blue and white tie the girl wore, Vlad knew she was from Ravenclaw. The girl had a very small frame and was practically swallowed up by the robes she wore, which were obviously too big for her. She was clearly Asian with a small rounded face and short cut straight hair.

"Um, I can't find my glasses…." said the girl.

Vlad looked around and saw her glasses behind him, but when he went to pick them up, a delicate and manicured hand with green nail polish, picked them up before he could reach them. The manicured hand was then accompanied by a very shrill girlish voice.

"Watch where you're going!" the other girl said angrily.

Vlad looked up and could see a very angry girl standing before him, holding the glasses and looking at him with what looked like a mixture of anger and annoyance. This new girl was wearing a white colored shirt, with a long green and silver bow tie, that showed she was a Slytherin. Vlad then recognized her as the red headed girl who had questioned Brightwood the day before.

"I'm sorry-" Vlad managed to get out before the girl cut him off.

"You should be, running into people, shame on you!" said the girl unpleasantly.

Vlad was just about to rebuttal, but the small Ravenclaw girl spoke first.

"Victoria, it was my fault!" said the small girl.

Victoria looked as though she had just been insulted, "Yui! My books, please! Class is about to start!" She then handed Yui her glasses and gave an aggravated/expectant look.

Yui looked as though she had just made a grave mistake, and quickly picked herself up off the ground saying, "Yes, right, I'll go now…" as she hurried off down the corridor.

Without saying another word, Victoria turned into the classroom in a huff and didn't look back at either Vlad or Felix.

"Who the hell does she think she is?" said Felix angrily.

"A bitch apparently…" said Vlad in response, brushing the dust off his robes.

A few moments later Vlad and Felix were inside the Classroom and seated. This classroom looked like a semi-circle lecture hall, with a chalkboard and podium at the front. Vlad then noticed Octavia waving at him and Felix from across the room. She was sitting with Victoria and a few other Slytherin and Ravenclaw girls. Felix again expressed his annoyance by saying "Why's Octavia sitting with that nightmare?" Vlad merely shrugged and casually waved back, and was met with a scowl from Victoria. Less than a minute before class was set to start, Yui came into the room, breathless and holding a few textbooks, she took a seat behind Victoria and gave her the books. Victoria gave Yui a bright smile and Yui smiled back weakly, clearly out of breath.

Eventually, the bell rang and Everyone fell silent. Then a couple students gasped as a ghost glided in through the chalkboard. The ghost was an old man, probably in his 80's or so, he wore a sweater vest complete with slacks and tie. Large horn-rimmed glasses covered his face, and a long silvery bushy beard that stretched to the floor seemed to have sucked up all the hair from his head because this ghost was bald.

"Good evening everyone," said the ghost in a sort of dull expressionless drone. "My name is Professor Bins…. And I will be your History of Magic instructor for the year… and most likely for every following year, for no one knows more about the history of magic than I…" Professor Binns was incredibly monotone, Vlad was impressed that the ghost could keep his voice at that constant pitch for so long.

The class seemed to drone on forever. Vlad struggled to feel invested in the material being taught, but his attention was slipping as his eyes began to droop due to his lack of sleep. He noticed a similar reaction from the other students around him. Felix had his head propped up on one elbow, and his head would occasionally sink, only to immediately pop back up again. After what seemed like an eternity, Professor bins closed the book in front of him with a loud snap, waking everyone from their stupor.

"Oh look at the time," said Bins trying to sound surprised and failing completely, "Class is about to end… please collect your things and prepare for your next… class." People stood up and stretched, there was a constant stream of yawns and groans as the children picked themselves up and prepared to leave. Whilst packing his bag, to his surprise Octavia walked up to him.

"What a rough class to have first thing in the morning…" said Octavia through a yawn.

"It wasn't that bad," said Vlad, "Just don't put your head down and you'll be fine."

Octavia was going to speak again, but was cut off by the bell, "See you in Potions," Octavia said with a smile, "I'll wait up and we can be partners!"

Felix sourly Rose to his feet and without a word left the room.

"What's wrong with him lately…" said Octavia sadly.

"He feels you're ignoring him I guess…" said Vlad.

"Oh he's just being melodramatic, he'll get over it. It's not like we're not friends anymore or anything...:"

Vlad stepped out of the classroom and made his way back to the common room to grab his potions kit, but when crossing the main threshold at the top of the marble staircase suddenly there was shrieks and scream erupting all around him. Vlad looked around quickly and saw dozens of students with a black substance seeping off their heads and sloshing onto the ground. A wave of panic hit him when all of the sudden a large balloon fell and plopped upon right atop his head. Black liquid began to seep down his head and trickle onto his shoulders. Vlad leaning forward was able to allow for most of the black goop to fall off his head and drop to the floor rather than his clothes. Vlad then realized by the smell, that the substance was simply ink. When Vlad looked up he saw a ghost with tons of balloons in his arms, laughing hysterically as he pelted people with the ink bombs. The ghost was wearing a jester outfit and had large poofy hair and an almost comically long nose.

"Bombs away!" the ghost yelled as he let go of all of the balloons at once, showering the people who were walking up the stairs.

"PEEVES!" yelled a Gryffindor girl with a long waist length braid who was wiping the ink from her face. Judging by the badge on her robes, she was a Gryffindor prefect. "When I report this to Potter you'll be sorry!"

But Peeves simply laughed louder and ascended through the ceiling. Vlad swore to himself as he felt all the black goop stuck in his hair. He would have to wash it out before heading to class. Vlad looked over to a nearby grandfather clock and saw there were only 10 minutes until his next class. Vlad raced down the stairs towards the Slytherin common room, raced by Sir Wilhelm and over to his room, to grab his kit. He checked the time and found he only had 5 minutes now. Rushing to the bathroom he washed his hair as best he could, and when he was satisfied that all the ink was gone, he burst once again through the portrait hole and towards his potions classroom. A few moments later he was racing through the halls towards the potions classroom, which was located in the dungeon area, thankfully close to the Slytherin common room. When his classroom was finally in sight, he was suddenly aware of a commission being made ahead. There was arguing from the nearby stairwell, followed by a scream. Suddenly as Vlad was about to pass the stairway, a boy came tumbling in front of him. He fell hard on his back and was wincing in pain. Vlad looked at the top of the stairs and saw two Slytherin sixth years laughing and holding a book bag.

"Know your place mud blood," one of them had said as they began laughing. The two boys then threw the book bag down the stairs and it fell with a loud crack and the sound of breaking glass. The boys then looked at Vlad and as if what they were doing was perfectly normal, they waved hello to him and continued up the stairs away from them laughing still. The boy managed to sit up and Vlad found he recognized him. He was the boy from the Hogwarts Express, the one who was sorted into Gryffindor. He was rubbing his cheek, which was bruised.

"Bunch of jerks! Jeez, Vallery was right…" the boy was saying to himself.

It wasn't until Vlad reached down to pick up the boy's book bag, did he realize Vlad was there.

"Oh… sorry you had to see that…" said the boy.

"It's alright…" said Vlad picking up the boys bag, only to find that the inside was full of spilled ink, broken glass and ruined parchment.

They boy reached over and grabbed his bag and said, "Damn asshole Slytherins, made me late to class…" He looked into his bag and swore to himself, "That's just great! Now how am I supposed to go to class…"

Vlad helped the boy stand up, but once he did the boy gave Vlad a quizzical look.

"What happened to your hair dude?"

"Long story…" said Vlad, realizing his hair must still have some ink in it.

"Hey listen.. Can I borrow some ink and parchment?" said the boy desperately

"Sure I guess" responded Vlad pulling out some ink and a few rolls of parchment.

"You're a lifesaver!" said the boy gratefully taking the ink and paper, "I'll make it up to you I swear!"

"No problem…" said Vlad eager to get going to his next class.

Then the two boys started walking towards the same classroom.

"You have potions right now?" asked the boy.

"Yeah"

It was then that the boy finally noticed the green and silver necktie Vlad was wearing.

"Oh, your Slytherin…" the boy seemed to stop and think a moment, then smiled at Vlad, "I guess there's hope for you guys after all," he said with a smile.

Vlad didn't know whether he was just insulted or complemented, probably because it was a little of both.

The two then opened to door to the potions room.

They entered a cobblestone chamber where rows of two person tables were lined in front of an elevated platform, where none other than his house representative, Professor Brightwood was standing. Each table had a single cauldron above a fire pit carved into the tables. The cauldrons were bubbling and clouding the ceiling with a dark blue fog.

Brightwood gave the two boys a disapproving look and said, "Ah Mr. Kardash, and Mr. Bautista, so nice of you to finally arrive," Everyone in the classroom turned to look at the two boys who had just come in. One was disheveled and had a bruised cheek, the other had wet drooping hair with flecks of ink here and there on his robes. Vlad caught a glimpse of Octavia, who looked at Vlad sadly. She was partnered with Victoria, who was looking at Vlad as though something unpleasant had just come in the room.

"May I ask why you two are late, and why you look the worse for wear?" said Brightwood expectantly.

Jaime was about to speak, when Vlad interrupted him, "We were stopped by peeves, he was causing a mess in the main corridor."

Brightwood paused for a moment considering this, "Jaime why is your cheek bruised?"

"I.. uhh… slipped on some ink," said Jaime, catching on fast. It was made all the more believable by the fact that Jaime too was flecked with ink, from the smashed ink bottles in his bag.

Brightwood paused for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh, "That Peeves… causing havoc even on the first day…" Brightwood cleared her throat and continued, "Very well, since you two are the only ones without partners, please take the empty table in the back, and do your best to try and follow along with the class."

Jaime and Vlad made their way to the edge of the classroom and sat down at the empty desk.

"Thanks for covering for me," said Jaime in a whisper, "I didn't want to have to let everyone know I just got my ass handed to me, uhh Vlad was it? I think I remember you from the sorting…. the hat took forever with you."

"Yeah, don't mention it…" said Vlad.

The two then tried their best to catch up with the class, and for the most part succeeded, no thanks to Jaime however. It was as if Jaime was totally lost when it came to what each ingredient was called, and was always asking Vlad questions. When Jaime leaned in to add some thumblet thorn extract, he found out why. There on The inside of Jaime's robes, pinned to his shirt was a muggle born pin.

When Class had finished, Vlad and Jaime had just barely managed to scrape by with an acceptable brew. The assignment was to create a potion that would turn apples into oranges. Their brew, however, turned the apples into tangerines, but apparently, that was close enough for them to receive a passing grade for the day. When exiting the Classroom Octavia waved weakly at Vlad with a smile and walked off with Victoria and a few other Slytherin girls.

"Alright, let me buy you something from the student store," said Jaime, "It's only fair… just don't pick something too expensive."

"It's fine…" said Vlad, but Jaime wasn't having it. For the next minute or so Jaime argued adamantly about how he needed to repay Vlad for his kindness, and in the end, Vlad relented.

The student store was filled with various items that the students could purchase, such as school supplies, snacks, clothing and even a few choice potions. Vlad picked out a vile of ink and some scrolls of parchment, but since it was lunch time at this point, Jaime insisted Vlad buy a snack, and so Vlad picked out a bottle of Crystal Cider.

"Oh, I've been wanting to try that, I think I'll get one too." said Jaime picking up a purple crystalline bottle.

A few moments later they sat in the outdoor courtyard adjacent to the student store. They both found a comfy spot that was in the shade of a cherry tree and sat against the wall. Vlad saw Jaime pulling at the bottle from all angles trying to open the bottle. Vlad tapped him on the shoulder and showed him that you needed to tap the top with your wand, and the crystal topper would shrink and fall into the bottle causing the Cider to fizz and pop, releasing small sparks of various colors. Jaime in awe pulled out his own wand and copied Vlad, relishing in the reaction the beverage made.

"So cool!" said Jaime, drinking the Cider happily.

"Your muggle born right?" asked Vlad.

"Yeah… Guess it's pretty easy to tell huh?"

"Especially when you wear that around," said Vlad pointing to the Muggle-born pin attached to his shirt, "Why do you wear that?"

"Well… My prefect gave it to me so that the teachers would know that I'm not very familiar with the Wizarding world… but it seems to be causing some unwanted attention," said Jaime pointing to the bruise on his cheek.

"You're just asking to be called a Mudblood if you wear that around…" said Vlad.

"What is a mudblood?" asked Jaime, "I know it's probably an insult, but I don't know what it means, although I have a pretty good idea…"

"It's a really bad word that is used to describe Muggle-born wizards, it's about the worst thing you can call someone who is from a muggle family."

"Oh well, doesn't sound so bad to me." said Jaime taking another swig of his cider.

"So what happened? Did those Sixth years just beat you up because you were wearing the pin?" asked Vlad.

"Well no… I was running to class cuz I was late, then these guys go and trip me causing me to spill my ink bottle. I guess they saw I was a Gryffindor first year and decided to have some fun with me... guess our houses don't like each other very much, cuz all I hear about you Slytherins is how you're all a bunch of jerks."

"I've also heard nothing but good things about your house from my fellow Slytherins." said Vlad sarcastically.

"Anyways," said Jaime resuming his story, "I told them they owed me a new ink bottle, then they saw my Muggle-born pin and. Well, you saw."

"Why don't you just take it off, doesn't seem worth the trouble if you ask me." said Vlad finishing off his bottle of cider.

"No way," said Jaime seriously, "Taking off this pin is like being ashamed of who I am, and I'm not about to let some assholes make me ashamed of my parents, or any of the rest of my family."

Vlad realized that this must be that trademark righteousness that Gryffindors were known for, part of him thought he was being dumb, but he could at least understand where he was coming from. Though he could see how his fellow Slytherins could find this trait annoying.

"Anyways, you don't seem to care that I'm a muggle born. Most Slytherins always sneer at me when they see this pin," said Jame.

Vlad leaned back against the sun-warmed stone wall and said, "Well, there is no evidence that purebloods are any different from Muggleborn wizards. In fact, if it weren't for the existence of muggle born Wizards and half bloods, the wizarding race would have died ages ago."

"The way your talking, I could've sworn you were a Ravenclaw," said Jaime with a slight chuckle.

"Well most of my family is Ravenclaw, so maybe some of it rubbed off…" said Vlad.

"Are you a pureblood?" asked Jaime.

"Yeah" responded Vlad.

Jaime then stood up and went in front of Vlad and extended his hand towards Vlad, "Ok then, Vlad Kardash, pureblood Slytherin! You are the nicest Slytherin I've met so far, so how about we be friends?"

Vlad found Jaime's behavior to be somewhat cringeworthy, but it was kind of endearing in a strange way.

Vlad sighed and Reached up and took hold of Jaime's hand and said, "Fine, but you better stop with all that cringey talk ok?"

"No promises." said Jaime with a smile.

Meanwhile, Felix stood watching the two from afar holding his book bag strap a little too tightly.


	5. Chapter 5

(Wand descriptions are from J.K Rowlings Mr. Olivander)

With lunch wrapping up Jaime and Vlad made their way through the halls to their next class.

"So you have Defense against the dark arts next too!" said Jaime excitedly.

"Yeah, seems like the least boring class, aside from flying practice." said Vlad putting away his schedule.

"A girl from my house told me that we're supposed to learn about people who use magic for evil, and how to use combative spells."

"Yes, but it's not like before, back when Voldemort was around. There isn't really a need to learn combative magic anymore."

This seemed to sadden Jaime a little, "Well, I think it's cool to learn stuff that you can use to defend yourself."

Just then a boy came running towards them.

"There you are! I thought we were supposed to meet for lunch?" said the boy.

The boy had dark skin and short black hair and was wearing a poorly tied tie with a red and gold pattern which indicated that he was a Gryffindor like Jaime.

"Sorry Rami," said Jaime, "I ate lunch with Vlad here, he helped me out in potions so I thought I would treat him to lunch."

"So Vlad is it?" said Rami extending his hand towards Vlad. "Rami Jaber, nice to meet you!"

Although once Vlad had taken hold of Rami's hand, Rami seemed to take notice of Vlad's necktie and suddenly his friendly demeanor vanished and was replaced with a mixture of shock and nervousness.

Rami quickly took his hand back as though Vlad's had just burned him. After letting out a nervous chuckle and avoiding Vlad's gaze, Rami grabbed Jaime by his color and whispered something into his ear.

Vlad feeling a mixture of both confusion and annoyance waited whilst Rami and Jaime had a hushed conversation presumably about him.

Rami was feverishly whispering while sneaking occasional looks at Vlad, Jaime, on the other hand, seemed amused.

Jaime eventually turned away from Rami and back to Vlad with a smile, "It seems my buddy over here seems to think your an asshole."

Rami looking mortified quickly jumped in and said, "I don't mean you specifically! I'm sure you're a cool guy... it's just... what I mean is... people like you,,, ughhh.

Rami seemed at a loss for words, so Vlad decided to help him out, "You mean I'm probably a dick because I'm in Slytherin right?"

"...yeah..." said Rami sheepishly.

Vlad then said, "Well, I don't know about you. but assuming someone is a dick because of what house there in seems pretty hypocritical."

"What do you mean?" asked Rami

"I mean," said Vlad, "You're being a dick, by assuming I'm a dick based on what house I'm in."

"Oh..." said Rami now understanding, "Your right, I was being an asshole, how about we start over... ugh..."

"Vlad"

"Right! Vlad, how about we go inside, our class is starting soon," said Rami.

"Sounds like a plan!" said Jaime leading the way inside.

The Defense against the dark arts classroom was located on the lower floors underneath the castle. As a result, the only light offered inside the classroom came from candles set into brackets along the walls. Various shrunken heads hung from the rafters and the walls were adorned with the severed heads of various magical creatures including the upper section of a dragon's skull. The room was divided into two sections of seating set against the left and right walls of the classroom. The center was left open and at the front of the room was an elevated platform with a podium. Behind the podium was a wall lined with shelves full of complex and intricate magical contraptions. Vlad could vaguely make out a hand in a jar in one of the shelves. Vlad then noticed a grouping of green and silver on one side and a similar pattern of gold and red on the other. Vlad supposed he should sit with his fellow Slytherins, but instead decided to stay with his new friends. Vlad, Jaime, and Rami sat towards the edge of the lowest row of seating and Vlad was welcomed with questioning looks from the people above him. His fellow Slytherins also seemed puzzled as to why Vlad was sitting with the Gryffindors. Vlad maybe thought that he was violating some sort of rule. Just then the door at the front of the room opened and a man stepped up to the podium.

He was tall, very tall, and had a muscular frame. His eyes were gray and focused like he was waiting for something. He was bald but had a black trimmed beard and his clothing was very business like, aside from the wizarding cloak he wore. When he spoke his voice came out so deep and projected so well that it was as if he was addressing the class from deep within a cave.

"Good afternoon students, my name is Professor Yassir, and I will have the pleasure of teaching you Defense against the dark arts this year."

The whole classroom was dead silent as Yassir scanned the faces of his new students.

He was quite for a little while before he spoke again, "Since this is your first year, I understand some of you must have some questions and preconceptions and I will address them."

Again another long pause as he surveyed the room a second time.

"First of all allow me to tell you all a little about myself since you all will be putting your trust in me to adequately prepare you for the darkness of this world, it is only fair that I approach you all with full disclosure."

The room was now dead silence, everyone was hanging on the Yassir's every word. It was as if his mere presence demanded respect and attention. Vlad, Rami, and Jaime were no exception.

Yassir Cleared his throat before speaking again, "My full name is Yassir Alkov, and I have been an Auror for over a decade now, for those of you who are new to the Wizarding world that means that essentially I was a police officer for some time. My duty was to find the scum that inhabits our world and snuff it out. I know many of you believe that the times of darkness are behind us, but so long as dark magic exists in our world, peace is not a possibility. I urge you all to pay attention, because this class may very well save your life one day."

Vlad was stunned, the man was speaking as if this class were a matter of life and death, Vlad scanned the faces of his fellow classmates and found them to be somewhere between fear and excitement.

"Our first lesson will deal with your ultimate ally," Yassir then pulled out a long slender black wand from within his coat. "Mine is Blackthorn, 14 inches, Dragon Heartstring."

Yassir then took out a copy of wands across the ages and placed it on the podium and thumbed through the pages until he found the page he was looking for. "In this book, written by the recently deceased Mr. Olivander, who was known to be one of the greatest wand makers of all time, the Blackthorn wand is described as so:

'Blackthorn, which is a very unusual wand wood, has the reputation, in my view well-merited, of being best suited to a warrior. This does not necessarily mean that its owner practices the Dark Arts (although it is undeniable that those who do so will enjoy the blackthorn wand's prodigious power); one finds blackthorn wands among the Aurors as well as among the denizens of Azkaban. It is a curious feature of the blackthorn bush, which sports wicked thorns, that it produces its sweetest berries after the hardest frosts, and the wands made from this wood appear to need to pass through danger or hardship with their owners to become truly bonded. Given this condition, when properly bonded a blackthorn wand will be as faithful a wand as any. -

"I would say that that description is quite accurate, given what I and this wand have gone through over a lengthy career, and so I would like you all to open your copies of Mr. Olivaders book and discover for yourselves what your wand says about you. In order for your wand to properly serve you in the future, it is important to understand your wand. Would anyone like to come to the front and give the class further example?"

No one in the classroom moved an inch, that is at least until Vlad suddenly found his hand forcibly flung into the air. when Vlad looked over he could see Rami holding both his and Jaime's hand, a large grin of excitement shown bright on Rami's face. Before Vlad could snatch his hand back, he suddenly found Yassir beckoning the three forward.

"Come on now, we don't have all day." said Yassir impatiently.

"Why the hell did you do that!" said Vlad in an aggravated whisper.

"Don't you think it would be cool to find out what our wand says about us?" said Rami happily.

"We were going to do that anyway!" said Jaime.

"Yeah but this way we don't have to look it up ourselves, therefore we do less work!" Rami said while pointing to his head in a "Use your brain" type motion.

At that point, Vlad groaned and rolled his eyes so hard he swore they would fly out and hit the ceiling. As the three walked up Vlad suddenly became very aware of the fact that everyone was watching their every move, some whispering rapidly while others sniggered quietly.

Yassir looked at the three boys before him and said: "Alright boy's one at a time tell me your name and your wand wood, then please hold up your wand for the class to see."

Rami happily stepped up first and held his wand out for the class to see, "My name is Rami Jaber, and my wand is Dogwood, Unicorn hair, 10 1/2 inches!"

The class then began to snigger and giggle, either at Rami's enthusiasm or perhaps at the fact that his wand was made of Dogwood.

"Dogwood eh?" said Yassir flipping through 'Wands Across The Ages', "It seems that Dogwood wands are quirky and mischevious and often choose a person with a good sense of humor and a kind heart. It also says that these wands often are most comfortable with users who can supply it with fun and excitement."

Rami delighted in hearing this held his wand high and gave the rest of his classmates a big smile before going back to his seat.

Next was Vlad, who was definitely not as eager to show off his wand to the rest of the class.

"My name is Vlad Kardash, and my wand is Hawthorn, 12 inches, phoenix feather core." said Vlad rather dully.

"Ah, Hawthorn, the mastery wand." said Yassir, "It is said that wands made of Hawthorn are extremely temperamental and hard to control, combined with Phoenix feather core and you have a truly volatile combination. But as I'm sure Mr. Olivander would agree, Hawthorn wands have the potential to have great offensive power given the right user. I think our esteemed headmaster is actually and Hawthorn user."

Vlad was surprised, he didn't realize his wand was so unpredictable, neither did he know that Professor Potter had an Hawthorn wand as well. Vlad too then went back to his seat leaving Jaime alone with Yassir.

"Alright, now let's take a look at your wand Mr. Bautista." said Yassir pushing Jaime to the front.

"My name is Jaime Bautista, my wand is Rowan, 13 inches, Dragon Heartstring." said Jaime looking nervous.

"Rowan, a very noble wand wood indeed. This wand favors defensive spells and often chooses those who wish to protect others. A wand used almost exclusively by Aurors, I'm actually quite certain that Mr. Olivander actually states that he personally has never known a Rowan user to ever use dark magic. The greatest Auror of our time, Harry Potter was actually a Rowan user himself."

Yassir then turned to address the class once again, "Thank you, boys, for helping me demonstrate. Five points to Slytherin, Ten points to Gryffindor, five for each of you. Now the rest of you, start researching your wands."

After that Jaime went back to his seat and class resumed. Everyone then started eagerly searching up their own wands and the room was then full of students crisscrossing the rows of seats asking each other about their wands. Even though Jaime, Vlad, and Rami had already been told about their wands, they found themselves looking them up anyway just in case Yassir had missed anything.

Later that evening the sun was low in the sky casting shadows throughout the castle signaling that it was dinner time. Vlad said his goodbye to Rami and Jaime as the two went over to the Gryffindor table. Vlad scanned the tables and quickly found Felix and sat down next to him.

"Hey Felix, how are your classes?" asked Vlad grabbing himself a platter of steak that had just appeared in front of him.

"Meh," said Felix, "The classes are easy enough, it's just hard to get invested in anything because it's the first day. Hopefully, things get more challenging as the year progresses."

The two then sat in silence eating, an awkward tension was between them and Vlad couldn't figure out why. Vlad was about to try and break the silence when Felix spoke first.

"So who was that guy you were talking with at lunch?" asked Felix, not looking up from his plate.

Vlad a little surprised said, "Just some guy I met in my potions class."

"Oh... ok," said Felix, again his eyes not meeting Vlad's.

For a few moments Felix was silent, It was as if Vlad had bothered Felix somehow. And just when Felix was about to say something, they were interrupted by a girl with a green and silver bowtie.

"Hey guys!" said Octavia plopping down between Vlad and Felix, "How's your first day been?"

"Alright." both of them had said, perhaps a little too quickly.

"Well, something seems to be bothering you guys."

"Don't you have some girls you need to be smothered by?" said Felix bitterly.

Octavia simply rolled her eyes and turned to Vlad, "Why were you so late to Potions today? I tried to wait up for you, but class had already started so I just paired with Victoria.

"I got held up by peeves," said Vlad, and it wasn't even a lie, Peeves had played a part in his tardiness, but he decided to leave out the part where Jaime was getting bullied.

"Also who was that Gryffindor boy that you came in with?" Said Octavia.

"A guy I met up with on the way to Potions."

"wait," said Felix, "Is this the same guy you were eating with at lunch?"

"They ate lunch together," said Octavia looking concerned.

"Yeah, so what?" said Vlad becoming annoyed that he couldn't eat his steak in peace.

"You should stay away from that guy, people are already talking..." said Octavia in a nervous whisper.

"What do you mean talking?" asked Vlad.

"I mean... he's from Gryffindor, and if that's not bad enough he's a mu-" Octavia seemed to catch herself before continuing, "I mean he's Muggle-born..."

"Really Octavia..." said Vlad in disbelief.

"She kind of has a point." said Felix.

"It's social suicide, Vlad, honestly you could not have picked a worse guy to be seen with." said Octavia growing more obnoxious by the second.

"What the hell are you talking about Octavia?" asked Vlad.

"It's your first year here Vlad, you know our house hasn't the best relationship with Gryffindor, you don't want to create a bad image for yourself right off the bat do you?"

"This is dumb..." said Vlad who was honestly growing tired of the conversation.

"I mean... people even ask why I'm talking to you... It's embarrassing..." said Octavia nervously.

"Oh so we embarrass you?" said Felix Angrily.

"No no, not you Felix.. but Vlad you should really keep better company is all..."

Just then Vlad became aware of the fact that many people were looking at them. In fact, upon closer inspection, wherever he looked the other first years would suddenly turn away from him, as if to pretend they weren't just staring at him.

Then a familiar red haired girl came up to them, trailing behind her was a very short, black haired Ravenclaw girl with glasses.

"Hey Octavia," Victoria said, "If you're done talking to ink boy, I need to have a chat with you."

She then grabbed Octavia by the wrist and began to pull her away, but before she could Felix grabbed Victoria's arm.

"She'll leave when she wants to!" Felix said through gritted teeth.

Victoria looked as though she had just been slapped in the face, a mixture of shock and anger was creeping across her face as she looked at Felix with disgust.

"Let go you freak!" yelled Victoria, and suddenly every eye was on them.

A few laughs broke out here and there, as Felix let go, his face reddening.

Octavia looked absolutely mortified and Vlad sat in his seat amazed at how Victoria could overreact in such a spectacular fashion. Then Vlad became even more shocked as people suddenly began to look at Vlad as though he had just assaulted her. Vlad hadn't done anything and yet people were looking at him.

Suddenly the ghostly figure of the bloody baron came gliding up from the floor.

"What is going on..." said the baron in a voice that sounded very disinterested.

"Keep those two weirdos away from us!" said Victoria pulling Octavia away from Felix.

"Victoria... please calm down..." said the black haired girl, barely above a whisper.

The Baron then looked to Vlad and Felix, his pale translucent face emotionless, "Please do try and keep your hormones in check boys, I know it's hard but if you want to get a girls attention, I think a simple hello would suffice..."

Suddenly the Slytherin table began to explode with laughter. Vlad wanted to sink into his chair, and Felix's face was now bright crimson.

With a look of satisfaction, Victoria took Octavia away. Vlad watched Octavia go and could see her mouthing what looked like "I'm sorry" as she passed through the large wooden doors of the great hall.

Eventually, Felix and Vlad began walking back to the common room.

"Who does that girl think she is?" said Felix his voice full of anger, "She acted like I molested her or something, and did you see her face as she was walking away? And Octavia did nothing!"

Vlad too was surprised by Octavia's silence, but rather than dwell on it, Vlad decided to change the subject, "Did you already have Defense against the Dark Arts today?"

"Yeah..." said Felix, still looking pissed.

"What's your wand made out of, mine's made out of Hawthorn."

"Oh, well good luck with that. Mine's made out of Ebony."

Vlad then looked at Felix's wand, it was sleek and black, it was on the shorter side though, maybe only 10 inches. He remembered reading that Ebony wands favored people who enjoy using combative magic and who have the courage to be themselves. Felix definitely had the courage to be himself, but he couldn't really imagine Felix hurting anyone.

"What core do you have?" asked Vlad.

"Dragon heartstring... how about you?"

"Pheonix feather..."

"Wow," said Felix with a slight chuckle, "that has to be the most unstable wand combo I can think of."

"Professor Yassir said that Potter has the same type of wand as me, so I like to think maybe my wand just has a high skill cap.

"Yeah, just try not to blow yourself up with it, our reps are far enough in the toilet as it is..."

They then reached the portrait of the black knight and walked through to the common room.

As they walked in, suddenly all eyes were on them again, followed by hushed whispers and suppressed giggles. Meanwhile, Octavia was nowhere to be found. If this is what Vlad had to look forward to at Hogwarts, he was in for a rough first year.


	6. Chapter 6

After their Defence against the dark arts class had finished, Jaime, Vlad, and Rami exited the classroom and went their separate ways. Vlad apparently had intro to flying next whilst Jaime and Rami were headed to the greenhouses for Herbology. After making their way to the front lawn of the Hogwarts castle they followed the stone path that skirted the perimeter until they eventually came upon the rows of greenhouses that housed the Herbology department. Dozens of first years from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff stood outside greenhouse 11, where Herbology 1 was to be held. As Jaime and Rami walked up to the main group, a Gryffindor girl came running up to them. The girl was blonde with a single braid of hair that was streaked with pink. As she approached, Jaime was able to tell that the girl had freckles and light brown eyes.

"Hi there Rami, I was wondering when I'd see you!" said the girl excitedly.

"Hey there Tesa!" said Rami enthusiastically, "Sorry, I haven't tried to find you, yesterday I had to worry about not getting hypothermia, and today's been pretty busy too."

"Oh yeah, I saw that! You fell right into the lake like an idiot!" said Tesa through loud laughter.

"C'mon it coulda happened to anyone!" said Rami now slightly embarrassed.

"Oh man, you looked so ridiculous in that big coat," it was then that Tesa noticed Jaime for the first time, "yo Rami who's this?"

"Oh yeah, Tesa this is Jaime, I met him on the Hogwarts Express, he's a muggle born so I thought I'd help him out."

"Nice to meet you." said Jaime extending his hand with a smile.

Tesa then vigorously grabbed and shook Jaime's hand with great force and said, "Nice to meet you, Jaime! My name's Tesa Bagby and I'm Rami's best buddy from prep school!"

It was then that an older gentleman exited out from greenhouse 11. The man was middle-aged, probably in his 50's. He had brown slick backed hair that was graying at the sides and a very gentle smiling face.

"Alright children, come inside and find someone to sit with, don't be shy and feel free to sit next to someone new!" said the teacher.

"Let's get going!" said Tesa excitedly as she rushed towards the greenhouse.

Just as Jaime was about to go towards the greenhouse, he was stopped by Rami.

"Hey man listen, normally I'd sit with you, but I'm gonna go ahead and sit with Tesa..."

"What, cmon dude I need you, I have no idea what herbology even is!" said Jaime

"I'm sorry dude, but I'm really into her, and I gotta take this opportunity man, this is love we're talking about here dude!" said Rami passionately.

"Ugh, fine..." said Jaime reluctantly.

And with that Rami gave Jaime a thankful wink and raced off after Tesa, leaving Jaime by himself.

Everyone then filed into greenhouse 11 and began to partner up in pairs. The Greenhouse was filled to the brim with plant life, it was as if someone took a classroom and placed it inside a jungle. Large plants were leaning down on the students from the edges of the greenhouse. and very colorful and exotic potted plants sat in rows near the back and a few even hung from the ceiling. The temperature inside the classroom was also very hot, but that was to be expected from a greenhouse. Though the most notable thing about the greenhouse was the symphony of different smells both aromatic and pungent that assaulted your nose. Jaime was struggling to find someone to sit with. He looked towards the front and saw Rami happily sitting with Tesa. It pissed Jaime off that Rami would abandon him, but he couldn't really blame him either. Everyone seemed to have someone in mind to partner up with, which made Jaime the odd one out. Just when all hope seemed lost, Jaime noticed a Hufflepuff girl sitting by herself. He observed her for a while and it seemed that she really had no one to sit with. She had blonde wavy hair and big blue eyes that were fixated on her Herbology textbook. Jaime couldn't see why no one would want to sit next to her. Maybe she smelled? Jaime thought to himself, but in the end, it didn't matter, so Jaime quickly sat himself down next to the girl. The girl looked up from her book suddenly and looked to Jaime in complete shock. Jaime looked back at the girl and soon the two of them were staring at each other. The girl looked as though Jaime sitting next to her was the last thing she had expected.

"Hi..." said Jaime weakly, trying desperately to dispell the awkwardness between them. Perhaps he had taken a spot she was saving for someone else?

"HI," said the girl quickly before she buried her flushed cheeks back into her Herbology textbook.

Jaime then noticed that the girl had been holding her book upside down the whole time. But before Jaime could comment on that, their processor began to address the class.

"Welcome students, to Herbology 1, My name is Professor Longbottom and I'll be your guide into the wonderful world of Magical flora and fauna!" he said jovially.

At once there was a sudden rise of ooh's and aah's from the class followed by furious whispers. Jaime was at a loss as for why the class was so impressed, so he decided to ask his new Hufflepuff table mate.

"Why is everyone so impressed?" asked Jaime quietly.

At once the girl looked out of her upside down book to stare at Jaime once again in disbelief. She looked nervous for a moment or two before answering.

"You don't know who he is?" asked the girl.

"No..." Jaime then pointed to the Muggle-born pin on his sweater and understanding flooded the girls face.

"Oh, I'm sorry! that was insensitive, he's Neville Longbottom, he was one of the original members of Dumbledores Army back when Harry Potter and He who must not be named were fighting."

Again with this Harry Potter, and also the man who people avoided naming. Jaime honestly wondered what kind of man could strike so much fear into people. He knew that there had been a terrible conflict between Harry Potter and Voldemort, but he had no idea as to what Voldemort actually did. In fact, the only reason Jaime even knew his actual name was because Vlad had told him. Vlad was actually the only person so far who didn't seem afraid to say his name, he wondered why that was? He had also hoped that perhaps his History of Magic class would shed some light on the story, but given how boring the class was, there was a good chance that Jaime might end up sleeping through that lesson. Jaime then looked out the greenhouse window and continued to contemplate what kind of atrocities a man would have to commit to earn such infamy. Then Jaime began to wonder whether or not Voldemort was even a man at all, perhaps he was some sort of monster?

Suddenly Jaime found a potted plant being placed on his desk. Apparently, while Jaime was lost in his thoughts, the professor had assigned each table a rather strange looking plant. Professor Longbottom seemed to take notice of Jaime's bewilderment and gave him a kind smile and said, "I'm sure all of this is a lot to take in so you can have Miss Luvia explain the assignment to you."

The plant in front of Jaime looked like a tomato sticking out of the soil in the pot, except that the red ball had strange green patterns.

Jaime then looked to Luvia and a little nervously said, "So, what is it we're supposed to be doing..."

Luvia giggled slightly and put down her book, "We're supposed to transfer this spring root into this other pot."

Jaime looked to the spring root and then to the empty pot and gave Luvia a thumbs up, "Alright then, how do we do that exactly?"

"You really weren't listing at all?" said Luvia with raised eyebrows.

"Help." said Jaime simply.

Luvia then looked to the plant nervously, then to a set of miniature gardening shears that had been provided. "Ugh, how about I tell you what to do, and I'll hold the plant."

"Why," said Jaime, "Why don't I hold the plant, since you know what to do."

"Nonono!" said Luvia adamantly, "You should really do it, I'm no good at this stuff..."

"Ok.." Jaime then handed the plant to Luvia, who held it at a slight angle in front of Jaime.

Luvia then began reading out of the Herbology textbook, which was still upside down, "So we have to cut the roots very carefully. Cutting the wrong roots could cause it to prematurely bloom."

"Ok then, which roots do I cut?" said Jaime looking at the jumble of various multicolored roots.

"umm..." Luvia was scanning the page carefully, while Jaime looked around and saw that everyone had already transferred the plant. Even Rami and Tesa had completed their assignment.

"I don't mean to rush you, but at this rate, we'll be the only ones not finished." said Jaime.

"Oh ok, I think I got it!" said Luvia excitedly. She then instructed Jaime on which roots to cut until there was only one left to cut. "Ok cut the one closest to the base."

Jaime looked and saw that there were two roots near the base, and they seemed to be tangled into each other.

"Which one?" said Jaime.

I, uhhh, I'm not sure one second," Luvia said as she desperately scanned the book for information.

"How can you even read that?"

"What?"

But at that moment Professor Longbottom addressed the class again, "Alright students please bring your Spring roots up to the front."

"Screw it," said Jaime leaning in to cut one of the roots.

Just then Luvia found the description of the final root that needed to be cut, "Wait, don't!" said Luvia moving the pot suddenly.

Jaime then with the sudden motion of the pot, accidentally cut both of the roots. There was a slight popping noise from the plant and then the red bulb suddenly shot from the pot and smacked Jaime right in his nose with great force. Luvia let out a small yelp as the plant smashed Jaime's nose breaking it immediately. The whole class then turned to the two of them to see Jaime doubled over clutching his bleeding nose, and Luvia standing holding the plant, wich was now drooping to the floor dully. Then there was laughter, at first Jaime thought it was at his expense, but then he realized that they were laughing at Luvia.

"Bad luck Luvi strikes again!" came from one of the tables followed by, "Poor guy," and "She's gonna kill someone someday..." From every table came some sort of snide remark at Luvia's expense.

Jaime looked up from between bloody fingers to see Luvia's horrified Expression. She looked on the verge of tears.

"ENOUGH!" came from the front of the room, and the classroom went silent. Professor Longbottom had a somber look on his face as he walked over to Jaime and Luvia.

Professor Longbottom came up and moved Jaime's hands from his face to see Jaime's nose was bent sideways, blood leaking out and dribbling down his chin.

"Nothing Madam Wiggins can't fix I'm sure." said Professor Longbottom giving Jaime a kind smile.

He then looked to Luvia and gave her the same smile, "Please don't mind my granddaughter, she can be rather absent-minded at times..."

At hearing this Luvia's expression turned from Embarrassment to sadness.

"Luvia, please escort Jaime to the hospital wing, tell Madam Wiggins what happened and I'm sure Jaime will be fine in no time."

Luvia then quickly got up from her seat and took hold of Jaime's hand and practically dragged him out of greenhouse 11. As they left Jaime could hear people whispering, "Bad Luck Luvi," as they passed the tables. Jaime took a look at Rami before leaving, he was shaking his head at Jaime, as if he had done something wrong.

The two then quickly walked across the lawn back towards the castle, Luvia setting a fast pace. Although Jaime couldn't see her face, he could hear her sniffling.

"Luvia wait..." said Jaime

"No," said Luvia sternly, "We gotta get you to the hospital wing, your bleeding a lot."

They made their journey to the hospital wing in silence, Jaime unable to see Luvia's face the whole way. When they reached the Hospital Wing, they stood outside a door of frosted glass that had a sign on it labeled Hospital Wing, with a heart dotting the I. Luvia knocked on the door and they were greeted with a "Coming!" in response. When the door opened, a woman was standing in the doorway. She wore a white wizards cloak but had on a gray turtleneck and black skirt. She had her black hair held up in a high ponytail and kept her wand resting on her ear. She stared at the two students through black spectacles.

"Hello, children!" Then she seemed to take notice of Jaime's condition, "Oh my! Do come in!"

She then practically dragged the two kids inside the hospital wing and turned on Jaime, her wand at the ready.

"And what happened to you dear?" said The woman.

"Miss, Wiggins?" asked Luvia.

"The one and only!" She said, tapping her wand on her glasses.

Suddenly Miss Wiggins glasses fogged over and she closely looked Jaime over, almost as if she were looking into him. Jaime then assumed she enchanted her glasses somehow to examine him.

Miss Wiggins was stunning, she was probably 30, but she looked like a supermodel, Jaime found it very hard to keep his heart rate under control having such a beauty so close to him.

"Elevated heart rate, he could be going into shock..." said Miss Wiggins.

At this Luvia gave a small gasp, while Jaime backed away from the both of them.

"I just got hit in the nose!" said Jaime frantically.

"Hmm..." said Miss Wiggins, "Well, that does seem to be the case... you two wait here, I need to grab a few things." She then pushed Jaime into a hospital bed and in a swish of white, Miss Wiggins went into her office which was located behind a door at the side of the wing. Once Jaime and Luvia were alone Jaime was able to fully take in the hospital wing. It was white and sterile, with several hospital beds lining the walls and shelves of potions and other medical tools set at intervals between the beds. Each bed had a curtain that could be drawn and above each bed was a large window that gave a view of the front lawn and the nearby lake.

Jaime then got a good look at Luvia's face. Her eyes were red, she clearly had been crying.

"Why were they saying all those mean things to you?" Jaime asked bluntly.

Luvia then took a seat at the edge of the bed and looked down at her shoes.

"They call me bad luck Luvi because they think I'm cursed or something..."

"What, why?"

"I don't know... I'm a bit of a clutz sometimes, and they think that I cause bad luck. So they call me bad luck Luvi..."

"Oh..." said Jaime suddenly understanding, "So what happened in class is a regular thing for you then?"

"No it's not!" said Luvia adamantly, "It honestly doesn't happen very often, but when it does, everyone is there to see it."

"Oh, I see."

Jaime wasn't sure what else to say, so the two of them sat in silence for a while before Jaime spoke again. "Professor Longbottom called you his granddaughter, is that true?"

"Mhm, " said Luvia looking out the window.

"Well, how come you arent getting the same attention as your granddad? It feels like anyone connected to harry potter is automatically popular."

"Probably because of my last name..."

"What is your last name?"

Turning to look at Jaime, Luvia said, "Lovegood, Luviana Lovegood." then her face saddened again and she turned away back towards the window, "People used to respect the Lovegood name, because of what my grandmother did for Harry Potter. But now they just laugh..."

Jaime was surprised, Luvia turned out to have two grandparents who were connected to Harry Potter, and yet she was still being made fun of, "Why do people laugh at your last name?" Jaime asked.

"Because my dad is the owner of the Quibbler." said Luvia.

"What's the Quibbler?"

"Oh that's right, you don't know about the Quibbler!" said Luvia, her eyes suddenly alive with excitement, "Well let me tell you, it's only the greatest magazine of all time!"

She then began rummaging in her bag and amidst the ruffling of parchment and the clicking of ink bottles, she pulled out a rolled up magazine.

"Behold the Quibbler!" said Luvia as she thrust the magazine into Jaime's face.

The cover read, "The Quibbler, the most reliable source of information in the wizarding world!" Then there was a subheading that illustrated a man who was half man half whale, "How to tell if you're turning into a whale!" Jaime began to flip through the pages and found other similarly strange articles such as "Boils and Bits soup, the key to immortality?" and "How to turn a household pencil into the most powerful wand ever!"

Jaime wasn't very familiar with the magical world, but even he felt that these articles were being a little less that truthful. Jaime looked up from the magazine and saw Luvia's excited face, and found himself unable to properly speak his mind.

"We'll I'm not very familiar with the magical world yet, so not much of this makes sense to me..." said Jaime.

"Well that's to be expected, but I'll let you read my copies and I'm sure you'll be an expert in no time!" Almost immediately after saying this, Luvia got sad again, "I'm sorry, that was presumptuous of me..."

"What makes you say that?"

"I'm not sure you'd want to hang around me anymore after this..." said Luvia through a sad chuckle.

"I don't see why not."

At this Luvia's eyes lit up again and she clasped Jaime's hands in her's, "So you wanna be friends then?"

"Sure." responded Jaime with a smile.

Luvia's joy at having made friends with Jaime was almost childlike. Jaime couldn't really tell why Luvia was so happy to have Jaime as a friend, but he couldn't see any reason not to have her as a friend.

"You still haven't told me what the Quibbler has to do with you getting teased." said Jaime trying to penetrate Luvia's bubble of joy.

"Oh right..." said Luvia suddenly becoming serious, "People say that the Quibbler is full of lies and made up facts. Which is simply not true! So people make fun of me because I read it. Also, it doesn't help when your father happens to be the editor and owner."

Jaime then noticed she was holding the magazine upside down, "Why do you read stuff upside down?" he asked.

"Oh, my dad taught me," Luvia said, "He told me that my grandma said that it was an essential skill to have while at Hogwarts, so he told me the same thing, and so now I'm trying to practice."

"Your dad sounds like he'd be interesting to talk to."

"Oh you'd love him, he's really good at talking to people. My mom used to say that he was super popular when he was at Hogwarts, he was a prefect and everything!"

Jaime couldn't help but notice how talking about Luvia's dad made her really happy.

Jaime then said, "Your grandad, Professor Longbottom seems really nice too,"

"Yeah he is, but he's really over protective. He thinks I'm an airhead. Won't let me out of his sight. I'm starting to think he's buying into the whole Bad Luck Luvi thing too. It's funny, my dad actually calls me his good luck charm, isn't that weird?"

"Wel, it's not that weird."

"Really?" said Luvia surprised by Jaime's answer.

"Well, If I hadn't gotten smacked in the face, I wouldn't have gotten to know you better, so I'd say that's pretty lucky. Besides this is what I get for being so impulsive." said Jaime offering Luvia a smile, but due to Jaime's disfigured face, he doubted it looked good. But to Jaime's surprise, Luvia beamed back at him.

Madam Wiggins then emerged from her office, holding a tray of tea.

"Miss Lovegood, would you be a darling and give Jaime his cup please?" she said.

"Oh, is this his medicine." asked Luvia taking one of the teacups from the tray Miss Wiggins was holding.

"Not exactly, but I do find a calming cup of tea helps sooth the spirit, which in some cases can help speed up recovery." said Madam Wiggins placing the tray on the table at the foot of the hospital bed.

"Wait, weren't you getting me medicine?" asked Jaime.

"Oh no," responded Miss Wiggins rather happily, "I just didn't want the water to boil over."

"What about his nose?!" asked Luvia, but as she spun and motioned towards Jaime, the teacup slipped off from the small plate that Luvia was holding and came spilling down on Jaime's thigh.

Jaime yelped in pain as searing tea cascaded over his leg.

"OH NO!" yelled Luvia dropping her own tea cup on the floor and scrambling to try and wipe the tea with the bedsheet.

Whilst Jaime and Luvia were preoccupied with that, Miss Wiggins simply took a sip from her own teacup and placed in back down on the tray gently before reaching to her ear and grabbing her wand.

"Meditalphus!" said Miss Wiggins and with a flick of her wand suddenly a green stream of light cascaded from her wand and flowed over Jaime's face and leg. Jaime then felt the pain in his leg and nose begin to fade.

"Now this might take about an hour or so, but you should be all fixed up by Dinner time." said Miss Wiggins cheerfully.

"Why didn't you just do this from the beginning?" asked Jaime.

"Well then we wouldn't have tea now would we?" replied Miss Wiggins simply.

Luvia was in a state of amazement as she watched the green stream dance along Jaime's injuries and begin to heal them. "Where can I learn to do that!" asked Luvia.

"Graduate Hogwarts, then head over to St Mungo's and enroll in the Medical Magic Program." said Miss Wiggins gesturing to a plaque mounted on the wall next to the bed.

The Plaque Read: " **Wanda Wiggins** , certification of Medical Magic Practice, Issue of St Mungo's Medicinal Magic Program."

"However, if you want to practice medical magic in the future I suggest you refrain from spilling hot tea on your patients, makes your job a little harder than it needs to be." Joked Miss Wiggins.

The three Laughed and talked whilst the period concluded and Jaime was released halfway through dinner. Jaime's face had healed so that you couldn't even tell he had been injured, even some of his pimple scars vanished as well. Jaime's nose was quite literally "better than new."

"Now don't come back to quickly now!" said Miss Wiggins as the turned away from the Hospital Wing. Though Jaime had a feeling that if he continued to hang out with Luvia, he would be back very soon. Even so, Jaime didn't really mind it all that much.


	7. Chapter 7

Professor Potter sat in his office working on trying to complete some of the starting term paperwork he was subjected to every year. Having to go through the records of all the first years was rather tiresome, but it paid to know a little about each student. Professor Potter's office was a mirror of himself. The circular room was immaculate and organized, but filled with various nick nacks, puzzles, trinkets, and contraptions. It mirrored the fact that Albus Severus Potter was very intelligent, perceptive and sharp minded. But at the same time, he was kind and had a humorous and whimsical side. He had been told before that he was very much like professor Dumbledore, who was the headmaster when his father had been attending Hogwarts. Albus looked at the portrait of Dumbledore and found comfort in his smile. He then looked at the other two portraits of the headmasters who had proceeded him. There was Severus Snape, the other man who he was named after, who simply stood in his painting sone faced and serious. Then finally the headmaster before himself was Professor McGonagall, who stood in her painting with a gentle smile on her face. Unlike the other two, Professor McGonagall was still alive, and she was even still teaching at Hogwarts. Albus Potter had only been Headmaster of Hogwarts for three years, and even though they were for the most part incident free, he could not help but feel inferior to his predecessors. As Albus looked at the portraits of all the headmasters of Hogwarts past, he suddenly felt quite inferior. Here he was completing paperwork for the start of term, while the Headmasters of years past had been dealing with real problems. Each headmaster of the past had accomplished so much and had helped keep Hogwarts safe through many disasters. When he thought about what he had accomplished so far, he couldn't help but feel inadequate. He wished a situation would arise that would allow for him to prove himself as a Headmaster. Maybe it was because his father had accomplished so much that Albus wanted to prove himself. Either way, Albus supposed it was for the best that everything was so calm. The wizarding world had endured enough darkness already, perhaps it was finally time for an age of peace.

Just then Albus could hear the stone gargoyle that hid the entrance to his office begin to move, signaling that someone was approaching. Albus took off his glasses and wiped them before putting them on again and preparing for his visitor. Though the man that walked in was the last person he would expect to see that afternoon. His brother, James Serious Potter came into his office, a somber smile on his face.

"Well you seem to be keeping busy." said James.

"I should hope so..." said Albus rising from his seat.

James stood in the room quietly for a few moments before speaking again, "You keep this place so clean, it kinda makes me sick."

"If I took a look at your office back at the ministry of magic, I bet it would look as if a twister had hit it." said Albus.

"Well you're right there, never really was one for cleanliness I guess..." James too was looking at the old portraits of the Hogwarts Headmasters.

Again they stood speechless inside the office, only the tick of the nearby grandfather clock broke the silence. Tired of the awkwardness Albus said, "You only come to see me whenever you have bad news, I assume this time is no different."

"And as always you are correct," said James turning to Albus a serious expression on his face, "Dad's gone missing."

Albus's usually calm demeanor was suddenly replaced with tension and worry, "So you mean it's time?"

James nodded, "A few weeks ago I was sent to the hall of prophecy, where dad's prophecy is stored, and it looks like it's just as bad as he warned."

"Who knows about this?" asked Albus.

"Mom is the one who told us that Dad decided to take action and leave home. She doesn't know much, apparently, dad didn't tell her any specifics about where or why he was leaving. All she knew was that it was time for us to view his vision. We've been in contact with Ron and Hermione, but they seem to know nothing, although Hugo suspects otherwise. But Mom was able to tell us where the vision was located in the department of mysteries, and I went with Hugo and Kalbur and we all saw it."

"Does Lily know." said Albus sternly.

"Well, of course, it was our duty as Aurors to report this to the Minister of Magic, and she wasn't too keen on letting this information get out." James then became quite nervous, "She also forbade me from telling you, she said this information was too 'Sensitive'."

"Then why are you telling me this." said Albus, now angry at being kept out of the loop on such an important event, "And how does dad know that the time has come for the prophecy to be fulfilled?"

James sighed and said, "Dad still has his connections at the ministry, so he found out about a recent incident that's being held under tight wraps. I think that's what made him take action."

"What kind of incident?" asked Albus

"The kind that spells bad news for the security of the wizarding world. So it's only natural that the public is being kept in the dark, but I doubt it's going to stay that way," said James.

"you still haven't told my why you're here, I doubt Lilly is aware of this little visit."

"Because I think you should know. What I'm about to tell you most likely will involve some of your students."

"Go on then, tell me about the prophecy. I've been waiting for 10 years to hear this," said Albus eagerly.

"Alright, but once I've told you..." said James, "We need to take a look at Dumbledores tomb."

Vlad Kardash was walking alone towards his introduction to flying class. He had just finished potions and usually, Vlad would be talking with either Felix or Jaime, but today he decided to head to his class early. He did this because he was constantly late to class for one reason or another, and today he resolved to be early. Just as Vlad was about to round a corner, he could hear people running ahead of him. Only a few moments later, a tall curly haired blonde boy suddenly rounded the corner, a look of desperation on his face. Vlad and the boy locked eyes for a moment before the boy spoke, "Help me!"

"What?" said Vlad, caught off guard by the sudden cry for help.

"Don't tell her where I am!" said the boy in a hurried whisper as he shot past Vlad and into a nearby classroom.

As soon as the door shut, a girl suddenly rounded the corner. The girl was short and out of breath, she had wavy light brown hair and amber colored eyes. The girl, though quite small, seemed very angry.

"You!" She said suddenly pointing at Vlad, "Did you happen to see a handsome blonde boy come by here!"

"Ughhh..." said Vlad, unsure of what to do.

"He's tall, light brown eyes, and has a wonderful smile, so have you seen him?" said the girl, her anger turning into desperation.

Vlad then decided, for whatever reason, that he would help out the boy, "I saw him run by, and that's about it."

"I see," said the girl suspiciously, "well thank you for your help. Have a good day." She then walked away, and once she was around the corner, Vlad knocked on the classroom door.

"She's gone." he said.

Then the door swung open and Vlad found that the boy who was standing in the doorway was the opposite of the one he saw earlier. The boy was wearing a large grin and laughing. Upon closer inspection, Vlad could see a yellow and black necktie that showed the boy was from Hufflepuff.

"Thanks, man! You really saved me there." the boy said swinging an arm around, Vlad.

Vlad, slightly surprised at the boy's chumminess, said, "you're welcome?"

"I swear," said the boy, "Can't a guy walk to his next class in peace. What's your name friend?"

"Vlad"

Daniel's grip on Vlad seemed to get tighter as he said, "Hello Vlad, My name is Daniel Warburton, nice to meet you."

Vlad found the progression of the situation quite strange, one moment they were strangers, the next the boy was suddenly calling him his friend.

"Can I ask why you were hiding from that girl?" asked Vlad.

"She follows me everywhere man... she's like my shadow." said Daniel releasing Vlad.

"I still don't get why you need to run and hide from her. Can't, you just tell her to go away?"

"If only it were that easy," said Daniel rubbing the back of his head, "She can be... persistent."

Daniel and Vlad walked and talked together for a few moments before being stopped dead in their tracks. As they rounded the corner they found the short girl waiting for them, arms crossed and furious. She had long wavy brown hair and a sort of elegance that reminded Vlad of Octavia. The girl wore a yellow and black necktie similar to Daniel's but her's was tied almost to perfection. In fact, all of her clothing seemed to be in immaculate condition, from her sweater to her skirt, and not even a single wrinkle could be seen on her cloak. She was actually quite pretty Vlad thought, he wondered why Daniel would be so eager to hide from her.

"There you are Daniel!" said the Girl angrily.

"It's not what it looks like Celine!" said Daniel quickly, but it seemed like the girl wasn't having any of it.

"Playing tricks on me again, when will you understand you can't hide from our love?" said the girl advancing on Daniel.

The girl, despite the grave height difference between her and Daniel, reached up and pulled Daniel down to her level by the necktie. She then seemed to notice Vlad, "Forcing someone else to help you in your ridiculous antics, have you no shame, Daniel?"

She then let go of Daniel, causing him to snap back upright. Then suddenly her demeanor changed completely as she tucked her hair behind her ear and addressed Vlad, "I am so sorry that my boyfriend here had to force you to take part in his silly games. On behalf of him, I apologize to you..."

Daniel then cut her off, "I am not your boyfriend!"

But it seemed as though she hadn't heard him and continued to talk to Vlad, "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name, please do tell me so that I may properly apologize."

"His name is Vlad, and he's my buddy, so I didn't make him do anything!" said Daniel, now getting angry.

Vlad was bewildered, within the span of only five minutes he had somehow been caught up in some sort of messed up lovers quarrel.

"Oh, you're Daniels friend! That's wonderful, he doesn't have many of those, I'm basically all he has..." said the girl taking Vlad's hands in hers.

"That is not true Celine, I have plenty of friends!" said Daniel.

"Of course you do darling..." said Celine dismissively, "Anyways, Vlad, thank you for helping Daniel out, but I would prefer you not keep him from me in the future." Her grip on Vlad's hands seemed to tighten with that last sentence, "My name is Celine Belrose, I hope we can get along in the future."

Despite her dazzling smile, Vlad couldn't dismiss the grip she had on his hands. Then unfortunately for Vlad, the bell signaling the start of the next class rang. Vlad was again late.

"Oh how time flies when you're having fun." said Daniel through gritted teeth, "Vlad are you heading to the lawn for intro to flying?"

"I was..." Vlad said, very pissed at being made late again, and for such a dumb reason.

Then we should get going!" said Daniel grabbing Vlad around the neck again and leading him towards the lawn, "You have Transfiguration next right? Shouldn't you get going, Celine?"

Celine looked at the two of them suspiciously, then sighed, "What a shame..." but then perked up almost immediately, "Alright then Daniel, I'll meet you right after class, don't go running off on me again." She then blew Daniel a kiss, and waved goodbye to Vlad and turned back down the hallway away from them, her hair bouncing as she walked away.

Vlad and Daniel stepped out of the castle hallway and into the early evening sun. As they walked across the lawn, Vlad decided to make sense of the situation.

"So why does she think your her boyfriend?" asked Vlad, still annoyed.

"It's a long story... " said Daniel, "but to make it short, our parents are really pushing us to get together, and she's buying into it completely. I would personally not have my future decided for me, so I've been trying to meet some new girls. But she's making it very difficult."

"Well at least she's pretty." said Vlad, "But her personality seems a bit... questionable... ."

Daniel then stopped walking and Vlad turned to face him, "She is my friend don't get me wrong. I care about her, but she's very sheltered and naive. She likes to think that the universe has a plan for her, one where me and her are destined to be together."

"Sounds strange." said Vlad.

"I think it's sad..." Daniel looked out towards the lake and the surrounding forest as if in contemplation. "I want her to see life how it is, not how she wants it to be."

Again, Vlad was baffled at how someone could be so trusting as to tell them such personal things only moments after meeting them. Daniel was quite the character himself, he and Cecile truly made an interesting combination of people.

Eventually, the two boys made their way into a crowd of Slytherin's and Hufflepuff who had congregated near the forbidden forest. The crowd was large and dense enough for Daniel and Vlad to slip into the group unnoticed, it seemed that Vlad was safe from being reprimanded this time.

"Welcome everyone!" said an old stout woman from the front of the crowd, "My name is Madam Hooch and today we're going to do some flying!" She was wearing standard Quidditch gear and had short spiky gray hair.

Everyone in the crowd suddenly became quite excited at hearing this. But before everyone could get too excited Madam Hooch spoke again, this time with more authority.

"Students! Make no mistake, flying a broomstick is an essential skill for every witch and wizard to have. But it is still a PRIVILEGE, connecting with one's broomstick is the same as connecting with one's wand, the bond is important. If you abuse that bond or if you act like a fool while on a broom, it will kick you off or ram you straight into the ground!"

At this everyone was then suddenly quiet and attentive. Once Madam Hooch deemed that everyone was sufficiently serious about the task, she began doling out practice brooms to each of the students.

The school's brooms were old, worn, and splintery. The broom Vlad's brother had was a Nimbus 6,000. Worlds above the quality of the antique Vlad held in his hands. Vlad looked to the sky and could see his fellow classmates having exceptional fun, doing loops and twists and turns all whilst laughing and yelling. Vlad looked to his left and could see Daniel mounted on his broom, ready to take off. Daniel looked Vlad, smiled, and gave him a thumbs up. But then his expression turned from excitement to worry as he looked behind Vlad. Vlad turned to find Madam Hooch standing behind him, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"What do you two think you're doing?" asked Madam Hooch.

"Flying?" asked Vlad, knowing that it was probably the wrong answer.

"Oh no you're not." said Madam Hooch taking hold of Vlad's broom, "Like I said before, flying is a privilege, and those who are late to my class do not deserve that privilege. Instead, you two can polish the brooms for the rest of the class.

And so Vlad and Daniel were stripped of their brooms and forced to polish the rest of the reserve broomsticks. Not being able to ride brooms with the rest of the class was bad enough, but it was made worse by a combination of the splinters they were getting while polishing and the snide remarks that were made every so often by a passing Slytherin on a broom.

Eventually, the class concluded and everyone was off their brooms and walking back towards the castle for lunch, all except for Daniel and Vlad who had several more brooms to polish. As the rest of the class passed, Vlad had to endure several teasing remarks as his fellow Slytherins passed. Then Felix and Octavia passed by him. Octavia looked at Vlad with a sad expression, meanwhile, Felix looked angry at him. This made Vlad feel even worse, his own friends looked at him as though this were his fault. Once everyone had gone, Madam Hooch approached the two boys.

"I'm heading to my office, I'll be back in about 15 or so minutes, you two keep polishing until I get back. While I'm gone you two can think about ways to come to class on time."

Vlad and Daniel continued to polish the brooms until Daniel decided to break the silence.

"I'm sorry Vlad, it's my fault we didn't get to fly..." said Daniel.

"This is so stupid, why do we have to miss a chunk of our lunch just because we were late?" said Vlad angrily.

"Does seem a little harsh huh?" said Daniel with a sad smile.

They continued to polish the brooms for a few more minutes before Daniel abruptly stopped.

"I've got an Idea!" said Daniel excitedly.

"What?" asked Vlad.

"Listen she's gone right now... how about we fly?"

"That sounds like a terrible Idea." said Vlad flatly.

"Dude, she's gonna be gone for at least another few minutes, if we take off for a little she's not gonna know."

Vlad thought about it for a moment. He was really looking forward to flying today, and he wouldn't have this class again for another two days. Vlad took an unsure look towards the castle, wondering how long it would take Hooch to get back. Eventually, with a little more encouragement from Daniel, Vlad relented and the two mounted their brooms. Vlad could feel the broom vibrate steadily in his hand as his magic combined with the broom. Vlad had practiced flying before on his brother's room, but that was long ago, but he still remembered the feeling. With a hard kick, Vlad blasted off into the sky. The wind and the speed overtook his senses as he flew through the air. Vlad found that his memory of Flying didn't do the actual thing justice, the real thing, the actual feeling of flying was incredible. Daniel and Vlad flew around each other laughing and doing tricks, but staying relatively low to the ground in case Hooch showed up. Daniel was in front of Vlad then suddenly flew upwards in a sort of loop until he was upside down and heading back towards Vlad. Daniel his eyes filled with excitement lowered his hand and held it open for a high five. Vlad raced towards Daniel and raised his hand too, and at high speed high fived Daniel. The high five stung his hand but Vlad still laughed heartily with Daniel. Just when Vlad decided they should come back down. Vlad spotted Madam Hooch walking back towards the field. Vlad stopped behind one of the castle turrets, he was sure that he was out of Madam Hooch's sight, but Daniel was in plain view. Vlad quickly descended behind the castle wall and hid the broom he was hiding with some other brooms that were leaned against the wall.

"Warburton!" yelled Madam Hooch, and Daniel stopped dead in the air.

Daniel lowered himself and landed on the ground in front of Madam Hooch.

"Where is Mister Kardash?" asked Hooch angrily.

"Over here." said Vlad emerging from the side of the wall.

"What were you doing over there?" asked Hooch.

But before Vlad could respond, Daniel spoke up, "Vlad tried to get me to come down, but I wouldn't listen to him. I'm sorry..."

Vlad was surprised, Daniel was blaming it all on himself.

"I'm disappointed in you Warburton," said Hooch, "I'm taking away 20 points from Hufflepuff and giving you two days detention."

"Alright..." said Daniel weakly.

"You can go to Lunch Vlad, Daniel come with me to my office and I'll give you your detention slip."

Madam Hooch lead Daniel away back towards the castle, whilst Vlad silently watched them go. It was Daniel's idea to ride the brooms in the first place, but Vlad still felt bad about Daniel taking the blame. Despite his feeling bad, Vlad said nothing and walked back to the castle for lunch. Daniel truly was an interesting character, he got Vlad in trouble, then got him in more trouble, then took the blame for it all. Either way that afternoon Vlad gained a new respect for Daniel Warburton.


	8. Chapter 8

Felix was walking the outer hallways of the castle on his way to his care of magical creatures class, when a familiar voice called for him from behind.

"Felix!" yelled Octavia, running up to Felix.

What is it?" asked Felix.

"We need to talk," she said breathlessly.

"About?"

"Vlad."

Felix breathed a heavy sigh and said, "I think I already know what you're gonna say."

"We have to do something, Felix! At this rate, Vlad's going to be the laughing stock of our houses class!"

"I think you're exaggerating," said Felix flatly.

"I am not. You've seen what's been happening these last few days, he keeps getting in trouble and losing points for our house."

"And how do you suggest I fix the situation?" asked Felix.

"It's that Gryffindor boy, everytime Vlad gets into trouble, he's always part of the reason why!"

"I can't just tell him to stop being friends with that guy…" said Felix dismissively.

"Felix, Vlad is our friend, it's our job to help him out when he's in trouble like this!" said Octavia with determination.

"Well you certainly aren't helping things," said Felix bitterly.

"What do you mean?" said Octavia in shock.

"I mean you and that witch you call a friend."

Octavia was surprised by Felix's comment, "Victoria is not a witch, and I don't appreciate you saying negative things about her." Octavia then entered her usual hands on hips disapproving form.

Felix then actually began to laugh at Octavia's response.

"Why are you laughing?"

Felix managed to halt his laughter and said, "You're trying to tell me to stop saying negative things about Victoria, when you do nothing to keep her from saying things about Vlad. I like how you're coming to me to try and help Vlad when you do nothing to try and remedy the situation yourself."

"No I just…" began Octavia, but Felix cut her off.

"I also think it's really funny how you enjoy hanging around all those toxic people just to boost your own image."

"Felix…" Octavia was now in full retreat, but Felix pressed on.

"If you really were Vlad's friend, you'd stick up for him, even if it means looking like a weirdo in front of everyone else. Also a real friend wouldn't just leave to go talk to complete strangers just because they want to advance their own reputation."

"I…" Octavia was now on the verge of tears, but Felix was already venting and couldn't stop. The last few days had taken a toll on Felix and now he was letting out his frustrations. "Maybe if you had hung out with us more, instead of those other fake friends you have, maybe Vlad wouldn't be in such a bad situation!"

Felix had become aware of his own anger, but it was too late. Octavia had tears falling down her front and she was trembling, "The only fake friend I see is you!" said Octavia before turning and running down the hall away from Felix.

Felix almost immediately felt awful about what he had done. Rather than go apologize, Felix's stubbornness made him move away towards his next class. Felix had care of magical creatures next that day, and when he exited the castle he found that the sun was shining and the skies were a clear blue, contrary to his own feelings. His fellow classmates had congregated outside Hagrid, the gamekeeper's house. This was Felix's least favorite Class, because aside from the fact that he always left this class with some form of injury, he also had no friends in it. He always had either Vlad or Octavia to keep him company in his classes, all except this one.

A few minutes later the massive form of Hagrid came out from his home to greet the students.

"Good afternoon kids!" bellowed Hagrid joyfully from behind his bushy graying beard, "As we all now terday is a very special day! If you'll all follow me, It's time ta introduce ya to this year's project!"

It was then that Felix took note of the large wooden crate that Hagrid had under one arm. "This year is a real treat, I got permission from Professor Potter to have ya kids take care of a truly special creature."

Felix had not been in Hagrid's class long, but already he knew that if Hagrid thought something was special, it probably had sharp teeth and knew several ways to kill you.

Hagrid gently put the wooden crate down on the grass and motioned for everyone to move in to look at it's contents. As he lifted the lid of the box the class could see that nestled inside on top of a bed of straw, were several strange looking eggs. They were about the size of chicken eggs, but they had strange vein-like patterns along the outside and it was as if each egg had a green light on the inside.

Hagrid then said proudly, "These here kids, are cockatreese eggs. For the next few months y'er gonna be raisin em up big and strong!"

Almost immediately the class burst into a chorus of nervous chatter.

"Aren't cockatrice's supposed to be really dangerous?"

"Don't they breathe fire?"

"I heard that they can kill you just by looking at you!"

Hagrid cleared his throat loudly so as to stop the chatter from the crowd, "I suspect all you have heard the unfounded rumors that these majestic creatures are 'Dangerous' but I assure you that these beasties are nothing but sweethearts. Sure they can breath fire, but they can't kill you by looking at you."

The crowd seemed to be relieved by this news, but Felix knew that there was probably more to these creatures than Hagrid was letting on.

"Anyways kids, I'm gonna pair you up in groups of six, each group gets six eggs. One for each of ya, follow the instructions in yer textbooks and I'm sure you'll all raise these here Cockatrice's just fine!"

Hagrid with a big grin on his face then began assigning people into groups. Each group had access to a single large cauldron Each coldren was hung over a large outdoor fire pit. Hagrid began paring the students until eventually Felix was chosen.

Hagrid took a look at a list that, in his hands, looked comically small, "As fer group eight… I got Felix, Amanda, Rami, Luviana, Rachel, and Jaime."

Felix slowly turned his head towards the right to see the Gryffindor boy that was causing so much trouble for Vlad. He was laughing at something, Rami had his arm wrapped around Jaime's neck and the blonde girl seemed to be embarrassed about something. Felix didn't understand why, but seeing Jaime smile like that made him very angry.

Felix and his group made their way over to their assigned cauldron. The cauldron sat upon an unlit fire pit and contained an unknown green liquid. The six children sat around the cauldron each with their own egg and not sure of what to do next. It was then that Felix was able to take in his group mates. There was Jaime, Black hair, on the taller side and had dark brown eyes. Next to him was a blonde girl, her hair was curly and she had bright blue eyes. Next to her was Rami, he had short black hair and a dark complexion. Then next to him was a dark skinned girl with coarse wavy black hair. And finally next to him was the brown haired girl he had seen on the first day.

"Well, we should probably start with step one…" said Amanda, her nose in the textbook, "step one, light the fire using the _Ignicio_ spell."

The dark skinned girl, as if on cue, proceeded to say " _Ignicio"_ as a jet of orange sparks flew from the tip of her wand and sprayed the coals underneath the cauldron creating a growing fire.

"Good job, Rachel," said Amanda with praise that was shared around the group, all except Felix, who saw no reason to praise someone for casting such a novice spell.

Amanda waited until the cauldron came to a boil, then continued reading the instructions, "Now we each put in our eggs."

The group then carefully placed their eggs into the cauldron one by one. When it came time for Luvi to place her egg in the cauldron, everyone stepped back. Everyone except for Jaime, Luvi flashed Jaime a smile at the gesture of trust and continued carefully lowering the egg into the cauldron. Luvi had a bad history with eggs. It seemed that in the past couple years, every egg that Luvi had picked up somehow ended up cracked on the floor. Unfortunately for Jaime, deciding to trust Luvi in that moment would turn out to be a bad decision. For at that moment, in the nearby pumpkin patch, Hagrid had just found some dragon toads feasting on one of his precious prize winning pumpkins. Dragon toads are very reminiscent of regular toads, with the exception of the scales razor sharp teeth and corkscrew horns, not to mention the fact that they were as big as footballs. This dragon toad just so happened to be feasting on the pumpkin that hagrid had been raising to be a runner for the grand prize at the annual botanical wizarding convention. Now the only thing this pumpkin looked like it would win was a pumpkin squashing competition. Hagrid picked up a nearby shovel and ran at the toad, waving it around trying to scare the vermin away. This for the most part probably would have worked on any other creature, giving hagrid's size. But dragon toads are not known for their intelligence and so this toad in particular saw hagrid as someone who was challenging him. So the Dragon toad leapt off the squashed remains of the pumpkin and flew through the air heading straight for Hagrid. It may have been because Hagrid was surprised by the toads attack, or maybe it was because he was mourning his shattered pumpkin, but for whatever reason, Hagrid smacked the toad in mid air away from the pumpkin patch with his shovel. The toad impacted the shovel with a dull thunk, Hagrid almost immediately regretting harming the creature, but Hagrid wasn't too concerned, because he knew better than anyone else that Dragon Toads were very hard to kill, but what WAS cause for concern was what happened after.

Luvi was in deep concentration, so she didn't notice the dragon toad flying towards her until it was too late. The toad hit her in the back of the head and let out a loud croak startling the whole group. Luvi let out a small yelp as the impact caused the egg to slip from her hands. Jaime had been watching the egg, to make sure that nothing would go wrong. So when Luvi accidently dropped the egg, Jaime could see it falling towards the rim of the cauldron where it would surely crack. Deftly, Jaime reached over and tried to catch the egg. He ended up however just smacking in into the coudron, which would have been a good thing, had the liquid inside not been close to boiling. The splash missed mostly everyone, except for Jaime, whose arm was directly over the cauldron at that point. The green liquid jumped up from where the egg had landed hitting Jaime's arm.

Jaime reeled in pain, clutching his injured arm.

"Are you ok, I'm so sorry!" stammered Luvi.

Jaime gripped the burned area and said, "It's alright, at least your egg is fine."

"Who cares about the dumb egg!"

Everyone seemed concerned over Jaimes injury, everyone except for Felix, who at this point started laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Rami.

"I just think its funny how bad luck Luvi here can't seem to do anything without messing it up," said Felix evenly.

Luvi let out a small whimper and proceeded to look down at her shoes. Jaime, however, seemed to forget all about the burn on his arm and stared Felix down.

"It wasn't her fault," Jame said, never averting his gaze.

"I guess you're right," said Felix, "I suppose that burn on your arm was a result of your own stupidity."

The moment seemed to be frozen in time, for a while no one said a word. A breeze blew through the group, whipping hair and clothing. But Felix and Jaime continued to stare. Just as Jaime was about to speak, a booming voice came from behind them.

"Are ya kids arite?" said Hagrid jogging towards them, "I wasn't lookin where I was swinging!"

A breeze blew through the group, whipping robes and rustling hair, but the two never looked away. The tension was palpable. Felix wanted Jaime to know that he disliked him, he wanted Jaime to be able to see it on his face. And judging by the way Jaime was staring back, he probably did just that. Jaime was about to speak again when a booming voice came from behind them.

"Are yeh kids alright?" said Hagrid running over, "I hope I didn't hert ya miss Lovegood," said Hagrid breathlessly, apparently the large man was not used to running.

"I'm fine Mr. Hagrid, but Jaime's hurt," said Luvi, grabbing Jaime's arm and showing it to Hagrid.

"I'm alright, it honestly doesn't hurt too bad," said Jaime.

"Hmm," said Hagrid as he took Jaime's arm in one massive palm, "Good thing the water at this stage does not need to be too hot, or else this could have been a lot worse."

Hagrid let go of Jaime and began to smile again, "Well accidents happen, no need to fuss over it. Jaime, do you think you can continue with the class?"

"Yeah, I'll just head over to Madam Wiggins when the class is over."

"Alright then kids, carry on. And make sure to be extra careful from here on in alright, no more putting your arm over a hot cauldron."

Felix and Jaime still seemed to be in sour moods, but Amanda continued reading the instructions. "When a female cocatrice lays her eggs, the male then eats the eggs so that they can specially incubate inside the stomach. In order to simulate the concoction created inside a cocatrices stomach, several items from a cocatrices diet are needed to create an ideal environment for the eggs to reach maturity."

As it turned out, there were six main herbs that were needed to complete the incubation brew. Each herb could be found easily in any magical forest, and seeing as how they had a magical forest right behind them, it was obvious that Hagrid wanted them to find the herbs themselves. So they decided to split up to find the herbs, once each person had found their individual herb, they would meet back at the cauldron to finish the assignment.

There was a fence that surrounded the inner perimeter of the forest, so that students wouldn't stray too far inside. Felix found himself staring at the fence. Attached to one of the main fence posts was a sign, and it read: No students allowed beyond this point without supervision. And as if the first sign wasn't enough, below that sign was another sign, and the word DANGER was written in large bold letters. Felix looked at the forest behind him, and then looked to the forest behind the fence and realized just how striking the difference was. The part of the forest that was accessible to the students was hardly different from any other forest. Large swooping trees created a canopy of green and created an array of sunspots that coated the ground. Deep roots and strange fungi surrounded the base of the trees. And every so often you would come across a strange plant or a small magical creature. And on the other side of the fence the difference was immediate and obvious. Looking beyond the fence, the forest was ancient. The trees thick and old, with roots that were twisted and foliage that was so dense you could only see a few feet into forest. It's canopy was so dense that you could only see the occasional streak of sunlight that rarely touched the forest floor. And every so often a strange animal call could be heard. It was rumored that several endangered magical creatures took refuge in the forbidden forest, and that no one truly knew exactly how many magical creatures called it home. Even its thick vines were slowly trying to break down the barrier dividing the two worlds. Felix had just found his ingredient, which was a very unapealing looking mushroom that looked more like a rock than something edible, but just as he was about to turn back a rustling to his right caught his attention. Jaime Bautista emerged from a nearby bush, looking very lost and confused. Then when Jaime realized who he had just run into, his expression changed from confusion to disappointment. The two of them stood in front of each other awkwardly for a moment, until finally Jaime spoke.

"Oh it's you, Felix right?" said Jaime, stowing away his displeased expression, "I can't seem to find the stupid Roomala root, I've looked everywhere."

Felix didn't respond, instead, he chose to continue to look at Jaime with a look of loathing.

Jaime returned the look, but rather than stay silent, he began to laugh. Felix's previous frown was now replaced with a puzzled look, why was he laughing?

Jaime eventually stopped his laughter and spoke, "I know this is probably a stupid question, but could you maybe help me find this root, I can see you already have your ingredient, seeing as how we're in a group I thought we could help each other."

Jaime didn't think it was possible for Felix to get more pissed than he already was. Jaime was wrong.

"First of all," said Felix, trying to sound as condescending as possible, "We wouldn't be

helping each other, I would be helping you, and I don't want to help you. I also don't want to fail, so what you can do is tell me what you're looking for and go back to the group and tell them what an incompetent idiot you are. That way I can help myself rather than help you."

Jaime was still smiling, but it was obviously forced, "Wouldn't you still be helping me though?"

"Technically yes, but this way I can complete the assignment without feeling like I'm enabling your Idiocy."

Jaime's smile finally faded, "What the hell is your problem?"

"You're the problem." Felix said, "Or should I say that you're Vlad's problem."

"What the hell are you talking about," said Vlad confused.

"I mean you're the reason why Vlad's having such a hard time."

Jaime was shocked, "Me?"

Jaime's reaction annoyed Felix, he was ruining Vlad's reputation and he didn't even know it.

"Of course it's you! You're ruining his reputation!"

"I don't understand…" said Jaime genuinely, "Everyone likes Vlad, people say he's the nicest Slytherin in the entire first year."

"The opinions of the other houses don't matter, he's the laughing stock of our house and it's your fault!"

Jaime was now just as angry as Felix, "What have I done!"

Felix was letting it all pour out now, "These past few weeks every single time Vlad gets into trouble, you're always there! It's no secret that Vlad has lost the most points out of any other Slytherin first year, and he's treated horribly for it."

Jaime's anger subsided, and a feeling of guilt took its place, "Has Vlad really lost that many points…"

Felix stepped closer now, closing the gap between them, "Yes, and it's all because he has a mudblood like you dragging him down, you're a parasite!"

That was the last straw for Jaime, he had been called mudblood too many times this year, he decided that this would be the time he stood up for himself. Jaime reached into his robe pocket and drew out his wand and pointed it at Felix. To Jaime's surprise Felix's wand was in his hand just as fast, and the two were now aiming at each other, wand tips aglow.

Felix then grew a self-assured smile, "We haven't been taught any defensive magic yet. Lucky for me I grew up in a magical home, so I've picked up a hex or two, meanwhile, you've spent you whole life in ignorance. Life can be so unfair, I guess that's just the advantage of being a pureblood."

Jaime smiled right back, "Don't be so sure, Rami's shown me a hex or two as well!"

They both stood with their wands raised, gazes locked, waiting for the slightest sign of attack. It was Felix who struck first shouting "sluglow!"

Jaime reacted quickly, dropping to his knees, the spell flying over his head and hitting the tree with a flash and a spark. Jaime then retaliated with his own spell,"gigglglump!" and a flash of purple sparks shot out towards Felix. With fast reflexes Felix snapped quickly to his left and dodged Jaime's spell by a hair. But in his haste Felix caught his foot on a fallen log and fell to the ground.

"Nice balance!" Jaime said mockingly.

Felix rising to his knees began to laugh at Jaime, "Nice spell, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you can't tell the difference between a hex and a jinx."

"what are you talking about?" asked Jaime confused.

"That jinx you threw at me would only have me giggling for a few minutes, and since your idiocy is already funny enough, not much would change. My hex would have you vomiting slugs for hours!"

Jaime looked up at the spot where the spell had impacted the tree and found that it was spewing out slugs from a hole in the wood.

Jaime then rose to his feet and said, "Well then it's a good thing that your aim is garbage because all you did was destroy some poor squirrels home."

Felix was on his feet now too, both of the boys then raised their wands for a second attack but were stopped by a loud booming voice and a mountainous figure bursting through the foliage adjacent to them.

"what do you two think yer doin?" asked Hagrid in a voice so loud, suddenly dozens of creatures could be seen running out from their hiding spots away from the large man.

"Felix is being a jerk, so he started it," said Jaime, lowering his wand.

"Jaime pulled out his wand first, so he started it!" said Felix, keeping his wand pointed at Jaime.

"Felix put yer wand down!" bellowed Hagrid, "Ya should never point yer wand at another Hogwarts student, ya should know that much."

"He called me a mudblood! You expect me to stand for that!" yelled Jaime.

Hagrid was taken back, he looked to Felix, but there was no sign of remorse on his face. Felix stared hard at Hagrid, showing that he was in no way sorry for what he did. What little of Hagrid's face you could see turned red with anger for a moment. But just as quickly as it came, it dissipated and left a look of sadness on his face.

"You boys are too young to be fighting each other over something like this, trust me I've seen it before." Hagrid lowered himself on to one knee so that he didn't tower over the boys. "Felix, I've seen wizards like you come and go from this school, yeh all believe yer superior because of yer blood. Well, that is simply not the case."

Felix looked away from hagrid and stared at the floor, Hagrid then puts a hand on his shoulder and Felix immediately looked back up with a look of anger as if Felix was thinking "How dare you."

"I've seen boys with your mentality grow up to do terrible things, and it never ends well," continued Hagrid, "But I've also seen boys open their minds and in return are rewarded with friends and happiness."

Felix felt as if he would barf at any moment, Hagrid seemed to think he needed a lesson in morality. All Felix really wanted to do was punch Jaime in the face, couldn't Hagrid just give him a detention and be done with it?

Hagrid then turned to face Jaime, "And you Jaime."

"What did I do?" asked Jaime honestly.

"I've seen yer type too. Fer far too long wizards have been trying to change people's minds by force, and it never works out. Just because someone calls you a name, it doesn't give you the right to harm em, that's what separates a good wizard from an evil one."

Jaime's reaction was the opposite of Felix, you could see the shame Jaime felt as he took in Hagrid's words.

"You're right, I'm sorry…" said Jaime tucking his wand away into his robes.

Hagrid drew himself up to full height and gave the boys a big smile, "Well I wouldn't be doing mah job if I didn't punish the two of yah. Five points from Gryffindor and five from Slytherin, as well as detention, fer the two of yah later this month."

"What!" said Jaime angrily. Meanwhile, Felix fumed quietly with a look of pure venom on his face.

(This damn idiot just made me lose points for Slytherin!) Felix thought. Felix at that moment went from disliking Jaime, to hating him. That boy caused trouble wherever he went, and Vlad was often right next to him, how could Vlad not see the danger he was in? And even now Felix had fallen victim to his bad influence. Something needed to be done.

"What were ya doing all the way over here anyways?" asked Hagrid, returning back to his old jovial self.

"I was looking for Roomala root…" said Jaime, "But I couldn't find it."

Hagrid then began to Laugh heartily, a loud barking type of sound that seemed to shake the very trees around them.

"Look around yeh boy!" said Hagrid gesturing to the forest floor.

Jaime did so and suddenly realized that under the piles of dead leaves, were bunches of Roomala root weaving about the ground.

"Ya see, this is what I'm talking about," said Hagrid happily, "Conflict blinds yah to what's happening around you, makes you forget what really matters."

Jaime embarrassedly joined Hagrid in his laughter, but Felix, on the other hand, was silent. Felix had noticed the roots, he just wanted to teach Jaime a lesson before rubbing the root in his face.

"How about we get back and finish the assignment, yer groups probably wondering where ya are," said Hagrid, putting a hand on each of the boy's backs and leading them back to the field.

Jaime left the forest that day Humbled.

Felix left the forest with nothing but anger and spite on his mind.


End file.
